UC-MRLF 

111 

$B   b35    53^ 


UBRARp- 

OF  THE 
UNIVER. 
OF 

P^IJFORNtft 


7# 


VIEWS 


OF    THE 


Public  Debt,  Receipts  >  &  Expenditures 


OF    THE 


UNITED   STATES. 


By  ALBERT  IgALLATIN. 


SECOND    EDITION, 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PRINTED  BY  MATHEW  CAREY, 

No.  118  Market-Street. 

1801. 


USA  I 


Views,  &c. 


PUBLIC     DEBT. 


HE  Secretary  of  the  Treafury,  in  aletter 
to  the  committee  of  ways  and  means,  dated  2 2d 
Jan.  1 800,  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  "  prin- 
cipal of  the  debt  of  the  United  States  had  in- 
creafed,  fmce  the  eftablifhment  of  the  present 
government,  the  fum  of  dols.  1,516,338. 50."  A 
committee  of  the  Houie  of  Reprefentatives,  ap- 
pointed on  the  20th  March/olio  wing,  "  to  ex- 
amine the  accounts  of  the  United  States,  relat- 
ing to  the  public  debt,  and  to  report  the  amount 
respectively  incurred  and  extinguifhed,  and  ge- 
nerally such  facts  as  relate  to  the  increase  or  di- 
minution of  the  fame,  since  the  establifhment 
of  the  government  of  theUnited  States  under  the 
prefent  conftitution,"  reported  on  the  8th  May, 
a  number  of  statements  furnifhed  by  the  Trea- 
sury department,  and  as  the  refult  drawn  by 
them  from  thofe  statements,  that  the  public  debt, 
instead  of  having  increased  one  million  and  a  half 
as  stated  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treafury,  or 
to  a  larger  amount,  as  had  been  sug^efted,  was, 
on  the  firft  of  January  1800,  diminijhed,  by  a  fum 
1,092,841  dollars  and  48  cents,  if  contrail  cd 
with  the  debt  on  the  1st  January  1790  ;  and  by 


M552936 


C     4     ] 

a  fum  of  3,972,878  dollars  and  66  cents,  if  com- 
pared with  the  debt  of  1st  January  1 791.  The 
report  was  printed  by  order  of  the  Houfe,  but 
never  acted  upon  ;  nor  any  occasion  offered, 
during  the  remainder  of  the  session,  toinveftigate 
its  principles. 

The  different  results  exhibited  by  the  Secre- 
tary in  January,  and  by  the  committee  in  May, 
at  once  show  that  the  subject  may  be  considered 
in  different  views,  and  embraces  not  only 
only  matters  of  fact,  but  questions  of  opinion. 
Whether  the  view  taken  by  the  committee  is 
correct  or  not,  is  not  a  queftion,  to  be  decided 
by  facts  only,  but  by  reafoning;  and  their  report, 
not  being  confined,  as  seems  to  have  been  ori- 
ginally intended  by  the  House,  to  matters  of  fact, 
muft  be  confidered  only  as  the  opinion  of  a  few 
individuals,  and  gives  no  further  weight  or  sanc- 
tion to  that  opinion,  than  can  be  derived  from 
the  correctness  of  the  reasoning  on  which  it  is 
grounded.  It  is  intended,  in  this  effay,  to  exam- 
ine some  of  the  facts  contained  in  the  Treasury 
statements ;  to  discuss  the  groundsof  the  opinion 
of  the  opinion  of  the  committee  ;  and  to  add 
some  general  observations  on  the  financial  opera- 
tions of  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
The  short  time  that  the  writer  can  bestow  on  the 
invefligation  is  no  apology  for  any  thing  con- 
tained in  it,  but  will  account  for  any  omiflion. 
Whenever  such  omission  occurs,  the  facts  and 


C     5     ] 

opinions  of  the  statements  and  report  are  admit- 
ted as  correct. 

The  progress  of  dimunition  of  the  public  debt, 
during  any  given  period,  may  be  stated  in  two 
different  ways,  which  constitute  two  different 
views  of  the  fubject. 

i  st,  The  amount  of  the  debt,  as  it  did  realy  ex- 
ist, at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  period,  may 
be  simply  stated,  without  making  any  deductions 
refulting from  collateral  considerations;  and  the 
difference  between  the  two  amounts  will  mow 
what  may  be  called  the  nominal  increase  or  di- 
minution of  debt  during  the  period. 

2d,  From  the  nominal  or  apparent  amount 
of  debt,  thus  existing  at  the  beginning  and  end 
of  the  period,  may  be  respectively  deducted  the 
amount  of  funds  actually  possessed  at  thofe 
two  different  times  by  government  and  applica- 
cable  to  the  reduction  of  the  debt ;  and  the  re- 
sult will  give  a  more  general  comparative  view  of 
the  financial  situation  of  government,  than  can 
perhaps  be  derived  from  the  insulated  considera- 
tion of  the  amount  of  public  debt. 

The  fird  way  is  that  which  has  been  universal- 
ly adopted  in  other  countries,  in  statements  of 
that  kind.  When  the  amount  of  the  public 
debt  of  Great  Britain  is  stated,  the  nominal 
amount  is  always  given,  without  making  any  de- 
ductions on  account  of  anv  funds  or  resources 
which  might  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  some 


[63- 

part  of  it.  Those  funds  being  perpetually  liable 
to  be  diverted  to  other  purposes,  no  deduction  is 
rupposed  to  be  allowable,  until  after  the  money 
has  actually  been  applied  to  the  reduction  of  the 
debt.  Yet,  it  is  certainly  proper,  in  order  to 
have  a  full  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  sub- 
]cQ$  to  state  the  account  both  ways.  If  an  admi- 
nistration shall  have  contracted  during  a  certain 
period,  a  debt  of  one  million  of  dollars,  but  shall 
leave  in  the  Treasury  one  million  of  dollars  more 
than  was  in  it  at  the  commencement  of  the  period, 
and  that  million  not  charged  with  any  incum- 
brance, nor  requisite  to  defray  any  authorised 
expence,  it  cannot  be  denied,  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  nominal  increase  of  debt,  the  financial  si- 
tuation of  the  country  is  not  changed.  It  is,  ne- 
vertheless, evident,  that  this  last  mode  is  more 
uncertain  and  more  liable  to  induce  an  error,  on 
account  of  the  difficulty  of  ascertaining  with  pre- 
cifion,  what  are  the  funds  or  resources  actually 
possessed  by  government  and  strictly  applicable 
•to  the  reduction  of  the  debt. 

The  statements  furnifhed  to  the  committee  of 
the  treasury  department  are  intended  to  give  the 
amount  of  debt  as  it  really  did  exist  on  the  first 
days  of  January  1790,  1791,  and  1800;  and 
their  result  shows  simply  the  nominal  difference 
of  debt  on  those  respective  days,  with  only  one 
exception.  The  shares  owned  by  government  in 
she  Bank  of  the  United  States  are  deducted  from 


L     7     ] 

the  nominal  amount  of  debt  on  the  i  st  January 
1800 ;  and  the  deduction  seems  proper,  even  on 
the  principle  of  stating  that  nominal  amount,  be- 
cause those  shares  yield  to  government  annual 
dividends,  which  are  a  proper  offset  against  an 
equal  amount  of  the  interest  paid  on  the  public 
debt.  The  possession  of  those  shares  is  precisely 
the  same  thing  as  the  reduction  of  an  amount  of 
debt  costing  government  an  annual  interest  equal 
to  the  dividends  receivable  on  the  shares. 

The  report  of  the  committee  is  intended  t« 
give  a  comparative  view  of  the  financial  situation 
of  the  United  States,  by  deducting  from  the  no- 
minal amount  of  debt  on  those  days,  what  they 
suppose  to  be  "  certain  funds  acquired  by  the  go- 
vernment, and  which  may  be  applied  to  face  the 
foregoing  debt." 


The  Amount  of  Public  Debt  is  thus  stated  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  '  Treasury. 

On  the  i  st  January  1790. 
Foreign  Debt. 

Principal       -  10,304,635.    15 

Arrears  of  Interest  to  this  day   1,696,562.    92 

—     -  -     12,001,108. 07 

Debt  to  foreign  Officers 126,988.33 

Domestic  Debt. 

Principal  .    -  -         28,630,190.  73 

Interest  to  this  day        -  10,923,997.  82 


Assumed  Debt. 


39,554,188.55 


Principal  of  State  debts  assumed     -     -       15,082,771   33 
Interest  on  do.  to  this  day  -     -         1,379,110.85 

Principal  of  balances  funded  to  creditor  States   3,517,584 

— —  19,979,466.  18 

Debts  discharged  in  Specie        -  515,460.94 

Total         72,237,301.  97 


On  the  1st  January  1791. 

Amountofdebt  on  1st  January  I790  per  above      -     -       72)237,301.  97 
Interest  on  foreign  debt  for  1790     -       474,715,11 
deduct  monies  in  Holland  -        132,475,31 


Intereft  on  Domeftic  debt  for  1790      -    1,688,962.  01 
Do.  on  aifumed  debt  for  do,         -     -       1,045,669.  64 


342,239  80 

2,734,631.  65 
75»3I4>i73-4» 


Intereft  on  affumed  debt  for  1791     -     1,045,669.64 
Intereft  on  balances  for  creditor  States 

for  j 792, 1793,  and  1794     -     -     422,110,08 

1 1,467,779.  7: 


Total    76,781,95?.  14 


C     9     ] 

On  the  i st  January  1800. 

Foreign  Debt 10,819,000 

Six  per  c«nt  st  ck,  deducing  thefums 

purchased,  or  reimbursed  -  25,030,467.  59 

L«t6ck,  do.         -     -         -  13682,944.17 

Three  per  cent  itock  do.       -  -  19,086,70'*- 54 

.  i  half  per  cent  stock  Jo.      -  1,847,500. 
Four  and  half  per  cent  stock            -  176,000. 


Sir  per  cent  stock  of  1796     -        -  80,000. 

r  cent  Navy  stock  1796  -        929,200. 

ti^ht  per  cent  stock  of  do.  -      5,000,000. 


59,823,620.3* 


Loans  obtained  from  the  Bank       -  3,640,000. 

DeJuS  Eunk  fiures  owned  by  U.  S.  at  par        888,000. 


6,009,200. 

■  -      2,752,000. 

Total     79,403,820.  30 

Thus  it  appears  on  the  face  of  that  document, 
that,  admitting  its  details  to  be  altogether  corredt, 
and  considering  the  whole  of  the  assumed  debt 
to  have  been  a  proper  debt  of  the  United  States 
contracted  by  the  former  government,  the  no- 
minal debt  had,  on  the  ist  January  1800,  in- 
creased by  a  sum  of  7,166,518  dollars  and  33 
cents,  from  the  1st  January  1790;  by  a  sum  of 
4,089.646  dollars  and  88  cents,  computing 
from  the  ist  January  1791  ;  and  by  a  sum  of 
2,621,867  dollars  and  16  cents,  if  we  contrast 
the  prefent  debt  with  the  total  amount  of  old 
debt  as  funded  by  government.  It  is  stated  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  that  the  debt  on  the  ist  January 
1790  was  feven  million  of  dollars  less  than  it  is 
now.  It  is  only  by  deductions  and  arguments 
that  a  contrary  result  can  be  made  to  appear. 
B 


C      10     ] 

The  conclusions  of  the  committee,  so  far  as  they 
differ  from  this  first  refult,  rest  no  longer  on 
arithmetical  precision,  but  on  the  supposed  cor- 
rectness of  their  assumed  positions. 

The  deductions  made  by  the  Committee  from 
the  amount  of  debt  stated  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treafury,  are  as  follows — 


From  the  nominal  amount  of  debt  on  the  ist 

January  1790  ------         72>237,30i.  97 

ist  Proceeds  of  lands  on  lake  Erie,  fold  to 
Pennfylvania  by  the  former  government, 
and  paid  in  certificates         -  I5I>39*-41 

2-  Debts  due  to  the  United  States,  on  balan- 
ces of  accounts  which  originated  under  the 
former  government,  and  received,  in  specie     62,586.  74 

3.  Debts  due  by  the  United  States  [being 
part  of  the  fum  of  dollars  515,460.  94  in- 
cluded in  the  amount  of  debt  due  on  the  Ist 

January  1790]  difcharged  before  1790  15,927.  13 

4.  Cafh  in  treafury,  or  in  hands  of  Collectors 

on  1st  January  1790         -  111,367.45 

3.  Uncollected  Custom  Houfc  bonds      -         590,468.  60 


<?3i>74*-33 

Leaving  for  "amt.  of  debt  on  1st  January  1790,"  according  / 

Co  committee 7i>3°5>559-°4- 

From  the  nominal  amount  of  debt  on  the  1st 

January  1791 76,781,953.  14 

1.  2.  3.  Lands  fold  to  Pennsylvania,  debts 
due  to  the  United  States,  and  debts  due  by 
the  United  States  difcharged  before  1790, 
as  per  above  -  729,906.  28 

4.  Public  debt  purchafed  or  difcharged  dur- 
ing 1790.  -  518,424.  08 

5.  CaiTi  in  treafury,  or  in  hands  of  Cellectors 

on  ist  January  1791  -  -  795,810.83 

6.  Uncollected  Cuftom  Houfe  bonds       -        1,052,215.13 


2,596,356.  3* 


Leaving  for  "  true  amount  of  debt  on  the  ist 
Jan.  1791,"  according  to  committee        -  74>l555>596-  *2 


[  II  ] 

Trom  the  nominal  amount  of  debt  on  the  1st 

January  1800.  -  79,403,810.  3* 

1.  Twenty- five  per  cent  advance  on  the  Ori- 
ginal cost  of  the  Bank  Stock  belonging  to 

the  U.  S.  .  222,000. 

2.  Cafh  in  treafury  or  in  hands  of  Collectors 
on  1st  January  i8co,  deducting  a  balance 
due  to  foreign  officers,  and  outstanding  re- 
gistered debt         -  - 

?.  Remittances  made  to  Holland  beyond  tho 
sum  necessary  to  meet  all  demands  there  to 
the  clofe  of  1799 

4,  Uncollected  Custom  House  bonds,  esti- 
mated, after  making  the  proper  deductions 


*>593>93T 

.30 

548,955- 

84 

5,826,214 

- 

-  9>i9T» 

101. 

H 

- 

70,212, 

.719- 

16 

Leaving    for  "  true  amount  of  debt  on    1st 
January  1800,"  according  to  committee 

It  is  evident,  from  a  view  of  those  statements, 
that  supposing  every  deduction  to  have  been 
proper,  yet  it  is  incorrect  to  call  the  result  a 
"  true  amount  of  debt,"  and  to  say  "  that  the 
debt  has  in  facl:  been  diminished. "  Those  ex- 
pressions may,  to  a  superficial  observer,  convey 
the  fallacious  idea,  that  a  portion  of  the  public 
debt  has  in  facl:  been  paid.  Supposing  the  state- 
ments and  deductions  to  be  perfectly  correct,  the 
conclusion  is  only  that  the  debt  has  in  fad  in- 
creased; but  that, on  the  other  hand,  government 
has  acquired  funds  applicable  and  more  than 
sufficient  to  face  that  increase.  Whether  those 
statements  are  altogether  correct,  and  whether 
the  funds  deducted  are  properly  applicable  to 
face  the  debt,  remains  to  be  examined. 

The  object  of  this  enquiry  being  to  ascertain 
the  result  of  the  fiscal  operations  of  government 
under  the  present  constitution,  it  appears  most 


[        »       ] 

proper  to  compare  the  amount  of  the  debt  on  the 
i  st  of  Jan.  1800  with  that  of  the  1st  of  January 

1790,  rather  than  with  that  of  the  1st  of  January 

1 79 1.  The  statement  of  the  debt  on  this  last 
day  must  be  intended,  to  show  either  its  true 
amount  on  that  precise  day,  or  the  amount  of 
what  may  be  considered  as  the  whole  of  the 
debt  contracted  by  the  late  government,  as  the 
same  has  been  funded  by  the  present  govern- 
ment. It  is  evident  that  the  first  view  of  the  sub- 
ject would  not  answer  the  object  of  the  enquiry; 
and  that  there  is  no  reason  to  select  the  com- 
mencement of  1 79 1  in  preference  to  the  com- 
mencement of  1792  or  1793,  and  to  reject  one 
year  in  preference  to  two  or  three.  But  should 
that  be  the  object,  the  statement  is  erroneous, 
in  as  much  as  it  includes,  as  part  of  the  debt 
of  the  1st  January  1791,  a  sum  of  1,467,779 
dollars  and  72  cents,  consisting  of  the  interest 
wrhich  accrued  after  the  1st  of  January  1791, 
on  the  assumed  debt  and  balances  funded  in 
favour  of  the  creditor  states,  but  which  was 
funded  instead  of  being  paid.  The  other  view 
of  the  subject  appears  still  more  incorrect ;  it 
presuppofes  what  is  controverted,  that  the  whole 
of  the  debt  funded  by  the  prefent,  was  contract- 
ed by  the  former  government ;  it  contemplates 
a  fum  of  four  millions  of  dollars,  consisting  of 
intereft  which  accrued  on  the  old  debt  after  the 
year  1782,  as  a  part  of  the  debt  contracted  be- 


L    13    J 

fore  the  4th  day  of  March  1789  ;  and  it  excludes 
every  consideration  of  the  propriety  or  impro- 
priety of  the  funding  system.  But  even  in  that 
view,  the  statement  is  erroneous  ;  for  it  includes, 
as  part  of  the  debt  funded  by  the  present  go- 
vernment, the  interest  which  accrued  on  the 
foreign  debt  from  March  1789,  to  January 
1791,  amounting  to  722,000  dollars,  and  which 
was  paid  and  not  funded.  Another  considera- 
tion of  still  greater  importance  will  apply  to  that 
statement. 

In  that  view  of  the  subject.,  the  whole  amount 
of  interest  which  accrued,  on  the  old  debt, 
after  the  establishment  of  the  present  govern- 
ment, is  included  as  part  of  the  old  debt ;  every 
consideration  of  the  propriety  of  the  funding 
sysftem  is  excluded;  the  whole  debt,  as  funded, 
is  considered  as  the  debt  of  the  former  govern- 
ment ;  it  is  no  longer  a  view  of  the  whole  of  the 
financial  operations  of  the  present  government ; 
it  is  no  longer  a  comparative  view  of  the  pre- 
sent debt,  and  of  the  debt  as  it  really  did  exist 
when  the  present  government  was  eftablished ; 
it  is  only  a  view  of  the  financial  operations  of 
government  since  the  establishment  of  the  fund- 
ing system  ;  it  is  only  a  comparative  view  of  the 
present  state  of  the  debt,  and  of  its  true  amount 
and  value  as  it  stood  after  it  had  been  funded. 
And,  in  that  view  of  the  subject,  the  deferred 
stock  ouo-ht  to  be  eftimated,  not  at  its  nominal, 


C      H     ] 

but  at  its  real  value,  both  on  the  ist  January 
1 800,  and  immediately  after  it  had  been  funded. 
It  is  evident  that  the  increafe  of  value  of  that 
stock,  from  the  time  when  it  was  issued  to  the 
prefent  day,  is  in  that  view  of  the  subject,  area! 
increafe  of  debt.  That  stock  was  worth  four 
or  five  millions  of  dollars  less,  immediately  after 
it  had  been  issued,  than  it  is  now,  and  might 
have  been  redeemed  so  much  cheaper  then  than 
now.  It  would  now  cost  government  four  or 
five  millions  of  dollars  more  to  pay  that  debt 
than  it  would  have  done  at  that  time. 

One  hundred  dollars  will,  at  fimple  interefl,  at 
the  rate  of  six  per  cent,  a  year,  produce  one 
hundred  and  fifty  four  dollars  in  nine  years.  One 
hundred  and  fifty  four  dollar  •-,  payable  nine 
years  hence ,  without  interest,  are  worth  only 
one  hundred  dollars  at  present.  One  hundred 
and  fifty  four  dollars,  payable  on  the  ist  Jan. 
1800,  without  interest,  were  on  the  ist  January 
1 70 1,  worth  only  one  hundred  dollars.  The 
deferred  Stock  was,  after  the  funding  system 
had  been  adopted,  a  debt  on  which  the  interest 
was  suspended  for  ten  years,  a  debt  on  which 
the  intercts  was  suspended  for  ten  years,  a  debt 
payable  only  ten  years  afterwards.  Computing 
only  at  simple  interest,  the  13,682,944  dollars 
and  1 7  cents  deferred  stock  were  worth,  on  the 
1st  Jan.  1 79 1,  no  more  than  8,551,840  dollars 
and   10  cents  ;  and  on  the  ist   Jan.   1800,  thev 


t  is   ] 

were  worth   12,870,702  dollars  and   five  cents. 
Computing  only  at  simple  interest,  the  debt  has, 
in  this  single  item,  increased,  since  the  funding 
system,    by    a    sum     of     4,318,861     dollars 
and  95   cents.     In  whatever   view   the  subjecl 
may  be  considered,  it  is  not  less  true,  that  go- 
vernment have  enjoyed  for  nine  years  the  benefit 
arifing   from  the  suspension  of  intereft  on   the 
deferred  stock  ;  and  that  after  the  present  year  a 
further  sum  of  820,000  dollars  will  be  added  to 
the  present  annual  charges  on  the  public  debt, 
in  order  to  pay  that  interest.     If  we  compute 
from  after  the  establifhment  of  the  funding  sys- 
tem, we   may  indeed,    from  the  amount  of   in- 
crease of  debt   exclude  the   intereft  which  ac- 
crued on  the  old-debt,  between  the  establishment 
of  the  prefent  government  and  the  time  at  which 
we  began  to  pay  the  interest  on  the  debt  ;   but 
we  must  include  the   increased  value  of  the  de- 
ferred stock  since  the  establishment  of  the  fund- 
ing system.     If  we    compute  from  the  1st  Jan. 
1790,  to  wit,   from  ten  months  after  the  estab- 
lifhment  of  the  present  government,  we    mall 
exclude  from  the  amount  of  old  debt  the  inter- 
est which  accrued  on  it,  subsequent  to  that  day  ; 
but  we  mall  consider  the  deferred  stock  as  part 
of  the  old  debt,  at  its  nominal  value,  and  with- 
out any  deduction  on  account  of  the  suspension 
of  interest  \    since  that  suspension  was  produc- 


[     16    J 

cd  by  the  funding  system,  an  J  did  not  exist 
on    the  i st  Jan.  1790. 

The  following  considerations  will,  therefore, 
apply  only  to  the  statements  of  debt  and  deducti- 
ons made  by  the  committee,  for  the  first  days 
of  January  1790  and  1800  ;  and  they  will  em- 
brace three  objects.  1.  Sundry  observations 
on  the  details  of  those  statements.  II.  An  exami- 
nation of  the  question,\vhether  the  whole  of  the 
assumed  debt  ought  to  be  considered  as  part  of 
the  debt  contracted  by  the  former  government  ? 
III.  An  enquiry  into  the  propriety  of  deducting 
from  the  amount  of  debt,  on  any  given  day, 
the  uncollected  Custom  House  bonds  due  by 
merchants,  for  duties  on  goods  imported  ? 

1.  The  details  of  the  statements  mould,  it 
seems,  be  corrected  in  the  following  items  : 

1.  In  the  amount  of  foreign  debt  on  the  1st 
Jan.  1790,  as  stated  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  the  principal  of  the  French  debt,  in- 
cluding arrearages  of  interest  to  that  day, 
is  computed  at  dolls.  7,896,517.12.  But  by  o- 
ther  official  statements,  and  by  the  statement 
No.  6,  annexed  to  the  report  of  the  Committee, 
it  appears  that  that  debt  amounted  only  to  dolls. 
7,895,300.39,  making  a  difference  of  dolls. 
1,216.73  to  be  deducted  from  the  amount  of 
debt  on  1st  Jan.  17: 

2.  In  the  same  amount  of  foreign  debt  on  that 
day,  are  included    263,000    dollars,  premiums, 


c  n  i 

payable  at  different  periods,  on  a  loan  obtained 
in  Holland  at  the  rate  of  four  per  cent,  a  year, 
by  the  former  government.  Supposing  that 
tho?e  premiums  should  be  comidered  as  part 
of  the  principal  of  the  debt,  their  value,  as  they 
did  not  bear  any  interest,  and  were  payable  at 
distant  periods,  should  be  estimated,  on  the  ist 
Jan.  1790,  on  the  principle  of  an  irregular  short 
annuity,  by  discounting  the  interest  on  each  of 
them,  according  to  the  date  of  its  becoming 
due.  On  that  principle,  they  were  on  that  day 
worth  about  172,000  dollars,  and,  therefore, 
91,000  dollars  lefs  than  their  nominal  amount. 
But  thofe  premiums,  on  a  full  investigation 
of  the  subject,  appear  to  have  been  no  part  of 
the  principal  of  the  debt ;  they  were  an  additi- 
onal interefl.  The  late  government  could  not,  in 
1784,  have  obtained  a  loan  at  four  percent  ;  the 
four  per  cent,  interest  on  that  loan  was  merely 
nominal  ;  and  the  premiums  made  up  the  real 
rate  of  interest  at  which  the  loan  was  ob- 
tained. The  former  government  received  only 
800,000  dollars,  and  they  agreed  to  pay  both 
the  nomind  intereft  and  the  premiums  for  the 
ufe  of  that  money.  The  263.000  dollars  must 
therefore  be  dedu&ed  from  the  amount  of  debt 
on  ist  January  1790  ;  and,  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple, the  premiums  still  due,  on  that  loan,  on 
the  ist  January  iSoo,  and  amounting  to  59,000 


[     i8     ] 

dollars,  should  be  deducted  from  the  amount  of 
debt  on  this  last  day. 

3.  It  is  stated  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasu- 
ry, in  the  statement  of  foreign  receipts  and  ex- 
penditures, No. 5,  that  a  sum  of  dollars  20,373.33 
in  six  per  cent  stock,  part  of  dollars  660,373.33 
in  said  stock  purchased  from  the  Bank  by  go- 
vernment, and  remitted  to  Holland,  remained 
unsold,  and  had  been  returned  to  the  treasury, 
and  passed  to  the  credit  of  the  sinking  fund. 
That  sum,  however,  is  not  included  in  the  de- 
ductions made  by  the  Secretary  from  the  no- 
minal amount  of  domestic  debt  on  the  1st 
Jan.  1800,  on  account  of  purchases  and  trans- 
fers to  the  sinking  fund.  It  is  an  omiffion 
which  should  be  rectified,  by  deducting  that  sum 
from  the  nominal  amount  of  the  debt  on  1st  Ja- 
nuary 1800. 

4.  The  amount  of  interest  which  accrued  on 
the  domestic  debt,  during  the  year  1790,  is  stat- 
ed at  1,688,962.  ci.  But  by  a  subsequent  official 
statement,  an  error  in  that  item  is  rectified, 
and  the  true  amount  of  that  interest  is  stated  at 
dollars  1,671,291.55.  The  difference,  amount- 
ing to  dollars  17,670,46,  makes  part  of  the  in- 
terest accrued  on  that  debt  before  1790,  and 
should  be  added  to  the  amount  of  debt  on  the 
1st  January  1790. 

5.  In  the  amount  of  arrears  of  interest  on  the 
domestic  debt,  accrued  before  1790,  are  inclu- 


C    19    3 

ded  dollars  22,438.58  being  two  years  interest 
on  the  debt  due  to  foreign  officers.  The 
amount  of  arrears  of  interest  on  that  day  to  the 
1  st  January  1790,  were  only  dollars  10,822.05. 
The  difference  amounting  to  dollars  11,616,53, 
fhould  be  deducted  from  the  nominal  amount 
of  debt  on  1st  January  1790.  That  the  ar- 
rears of  interest  prior  to  the  year  1790,  amount- 
ed only  to  dollars  10,822.  05  is  deduced  from  the 
treasury  statements   in  the  following  manner. 


The  outstanding  registered    debt,    and   debt  due   to  foreign 

officers,  is  stated,  on  the  ist  Jan.  1800,  at  100,184.  18 

The  purchases  of  registered  debt  and   loan 

office  certificates  amounted  to  dollars        -       97,124.  47 

Which  deducted  from  the  amount  credited  to 

sinking  fund  -  169,306.  78 

Leaves  for  the  outstanding  registered  debt         -  72,182.34 


taking    for  the    outstanding  debt   due   to   foreign  officers 

on  1st  January  1800.  -  -  28,001.  87 

Adding  to  this,  the  whole    amount  of  debt  paid  to  foreign 

officers,  including  both  principal  and  interest        -        -       203,466.28 

Gives  for  the  whole  amount  of  debt  due  to  foreign  officers, 
including  interest  to  the  istjan.  1 793,  the  day  to 
which  it  wa*  paid,  -  231,468.15 

The  principal  of  that  debt  was  -  -       186,988.  23 

And  three  years  interest  on  the  same,  for  the 

years  1790,  1791  and  1792  -  -         35>^57-  87 

Making  for   the  principal  and  interest  subsequent  to   1st 

January  1790         -  -  220,646.  10 

Which  leaves  for  the  interest  prior  to  1790       -  10,822.  05 


6.  In  the  sum  of  dollars  515,460.  94,  includ- 
ed in  the  amount  of  debt  due  on  the  1st  January 


[      20      ] 

1790,  as  being  "  debts  contracted  by  the  former 
government  and  fmce  difcharged  in  fpecie,"  are 
included  two  items  which  should  be  deducted, 
viz.  the  interest  which  accrued  refpectively  on 
thofe  debts  after  the  1st  January  1790,  to  the 
day  when  they  were  difcharged,  but  which  being 
neither  considerable,  nor  ascertained  in  the  of- 
ficial statements,  shall  be  neglected  \  and  the 
grants  of  Congrefs  to  the  heirs  of  General 
Greene, amounting  to 71, 45 3  dollars  and  36  cents, 
which  were  altogether  a  gratuity,  and  not  the 
payment  of  a  debt  due  by  the  late  government. 
In  order  to  enable  the  contractors  for  supplying 
the  southern  army  to  obtain  the  necessary  sup- 
plies, General  Greene  had  been  induced  to  be- 
come personally  their  security  to  certain  mer- 
chants of  South  Carolina.  The  monies  due  for 
those  supplies  were  paid  in  full  by  Congrefs  to 
those  contractors  ;  but  these  did  not  apply  that 
money  to  the  discharge  of  the  debt  due  by  them 
to  the  merchants,  and  after  a  number  of  years, 
General  Greene's  estate  was  found  to  be  liable 
for  its  payment.  This  sum  was  therefore  a  debt 
of  General  Greene  for  supplies  which  had  actu- 
ally been  paid  by  the  United  States,  and  not  a 
debt  of  the  United  States,  and  should  also  be 
deducted  from  the  amount  of  debt  on  the  1st 
January  1790. 

7.  A  sum  of  10,085  dollars  and  51  cents  was 
advanced  in  1792  to  pay  some  arrearages  due  to 


[    A    ] 

the  late  Maryland  line;  and  dollars  5,394.  5J, 
part  of  the  same  sum,  were  repaid  in  the  treasury 
in  1799.     If  the  original  sum  is  included  in  the 
amount    of  dollars  515,460.  94,   stated  as  the 
amount  of  old  debts   discharged  in  specie,  the 
repayment  of  dollars  5,394.   57   should  be  de- 
ducted from  that  amount,  and  from  the  amount 
of  debt  on  the    1st  January  1790.     If  the  origi- 
nal sum   is  not  included   in  that  amount,  the 
difference  between  it  and  the  sum  repaid,  which 
constitutes    the    sum   actually    expended,  and 
amounts  to  dollars  4,680.  94,  should  be  added 
to  the  nominal  amount  of  debt  on  the  1st  Jan. 
1790.     A  correction  seems  necessary  in  either 
cafe  ;  but  there  being  some  uncertainty  to  what 
account  that  expenditure  was  charged,  no  alter- 
ation shall  be  made  on  that  account. 

3.  To  the  deductions  made  by  the  Commit- 
tee from  the  nominal  amount  of  debt  on  the  1st 
January    1790,   should  be  added  on  the  same 
principle — 1st  the  sum  of  dollars   132,475.  31, 
stated  by  the  treasury  department  to  have  been 
in  the  hands  of  the  Bankers  of  the  United  Slates 
in  Holland  on  that   day,  and  which  is  accord- 
ingly deducted  by  that  department  from    the 
amount  of  debt  on  the  1st  January  1791,  but  is, 
through  mistake,  omitted  in  the  statement  of 
1st  January  1790 — 2d  a  sum  of  dollars  107,605. 
07  stated,  by  another  official  statement  of  the 
receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  war  department, 


I      22      ] 

to  have  been  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  late 
Paymaster  General  at  the  commencement  of  the 
present  government — 3d  a  sum  of  dollars 
24,091.  31  in  six  per  cent,  three  per  cent  and 
deferred  stock,  stated  by  the  treasury  depart- 
m  ent,  in  Statement  No.  I.  to  have  been  received 
in  payment  of  certain  balances  which  originated 
prior  to  the  present  constitution. 

9.  The  two  following  sums,  part  of  the  de- 
ductions made  by  the  Committee  from  the 
amount  of  debt  due  on  the  1st  January  1790, 
viz.  dollars  15,927.  13,  amount  of  debts  due  by 
the  United  States,  discharged  before  the  year 
1790,  and  dollars  151,392.  41  proceeds  of  lands 
sold  to  Pennsylvania  by  the  former  government 
and  paid  by  that  state  in  evidences  of  the  public 
debt,  should  be  deducled  at  once  from  the  no- 
minal amount  of  debt  on  the  1st  January  1790, 
as  they  were  not  merely  funds  acquired  by  go- 
vernment, but  debts  actually  paid.  The  out- 
standing registered  debt  and  debt  due  to  foreign 
officers,  amounting  to  dollars  100,184.  18  and 
deducted  by  the  Committee  from  the  balance  in 
specie  in  the  treasury  on  the  1st  January  1800, 
should  be  added  to  the  nominal  amount  of  debt 
on  that  day,  as  it  was  a  debt  not  yet  paid.  And, 
on  the  fame  principle,  on  which  the  Bank  stock 
owned  by  the  U.  States  has  been  deducled  at  its 
prime  cost  from  the  nominal  amount  of  debt  on 
the  Tst  January  iSco,  it  may  be  deducted  from 


C    23    j 

that  amount,  at  the  same  rate  at  which  it  was 
valued  by  the  Committee,  viz.  at  25  per  cent, 
advance.  These  last  alterations  will  not  caufe 
any  change  in  the  final  result,  but  only  in  the 
nominal  amount  of  debt  on  the  first  days  of  Jan. 
1790,  and  1 800  respectively. 

II.  The  several  states  had,  during  the  revolu- 
tionary war,  made  sundry  advances  for  the  sup- 
port of  that  war,  but  thofe  advances  were  not 
made  in  the  same  proportion  nor  in  the  fame 
manner.  Some  states  were  more  indebted  to 
individuals  than  others,  on  account,  either  of  true 
situation  in  which  they  had  been  placed  during 
the  war,  of  the  greatness  of  their  exertions  dur- 
ing the  war,  or  of  their  remissness  in  raising 
taxes  after  the  war.  And  those  states  who  had 
advanced  less  than  their  proportion  for  the  fup- 
port  of  the  war,  were  indebted,  for  the  diffe- 
rence, to  those  who  had  advanced  more  than 
their  proportion.  The  accounts  had  not  yet 
been  finally  settled  when  the  present  government 
was  established;  and  the  ostensible  objects  of  the 
assumption  seem  to  have  been,  to  relieve  the 
states,  who  were  most  oppressed  by  individual 
debts;  and  to  equalize  the  accounts  between  the 
several  states.  The  first  was  an  object  of  policy, 
the  last  an  object  of  justice  :  for  the  only  prac- 
ticable mode  under  the  present  constitution,  in 
which  the  debtor  states  could  be  made  to  pay 
what  they  fairly  owed  to  the  creditor  states,  was 


[     U     ] 

that  the  Union  should  pay  to  the  creditor  states 
such  sums,  and  in  such  proportions,  as  should, 
as  far  as  possible,  equalize  the  accounts.  And 
those  payments  might  be  made  either  to  the 
states  themfelves,  or  to  the  creditors  of  thofe 
states.  It  is  evident  that,  in  order  to  carry  that 
mode  into  effect  with  correctness  and  regard  to 
justice,  it  was  previously  necessary  to  settle  the 
accounts  of  the  individual  States,  and  to  ascertain 
which  of  them  were  creditor  and  to  what  amount. 
But,  instead  of  waiting  until  that  result  was 
known,  state  debts  were  assumed  at  random  by 
the  Union,  and  without  a  possibility  of  knowing 
whether  some  of  the  states,  in  whose  favour  that 
assumption  was  made,  were  not,  on  the  contrary, 
indebted  to  the  Union.  The  event  corresponds 
with  what  might  have  been  expected  from  that 
loose  mode  of  legislating. 

Considering  the  assumption  of  state  debts  as 
intended  solely  for  the  purpofe  of  doing  equal 
justice  to  the  several  states,  by  equalizing  their 
accounts ;  it  may  be  demonstrated,  that,  had 
Congress  waited  until  the  settlement  of  ac- 
counts had  taken  place,  before  any  state  debts 
were  assumed,  they  might  have  produced  the 
same  effect  by  an  assumption,  in  favour  of  the 
creditor  states,  to  the  amount  of  dollars 
11,609,259.69,  which  has  been  produced  by 
the  premature  assumption  of  dolls.  21,789,371. 
47,  which  have  been  actually  assumed  or  fund- 


L    *5    ] 

ed  in  favour  of  the  several  States ;  that  is  to  fay, 
that  the  accounts  of  the  Union  with  the  indivi- 
dual states  might  have  been  placed  in  the  same 
relative  situation  in  which  they  now  stand,  by 
assuming  dollars  10,180,111.78  less  than  have 
been  assumed.  Those  who  conceive  the  princi- 
ple of  the  assumption,  so  far  as  it  rested  on  a 
wish  to  relieve  the  individual  states  from  the 
burden  of  their  debts,  to  have  been  confound- 
ed ;  those  who  conceive  that  it  was  unnecefiary 
for  the  Union  to  assume  more  debts  than  was 
strictly  requisite  to  equalize  the  accounts  of  the 
ieveral  states ;  those  who  think  that  it  was  impo- 
litic to  swell  the  debt  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  it  would  have  been  more  easy  for  the  indivi- 
dual states  than  for  the  Union  to  discharge  that 
surplus,  will  be  of  opinion  that  the  unnecessary- 
debt,  created  by  the  rash  assumption  of  state 
debts  before  a  final  settlement  of  accounts,  and 
which  cannot  be  considered  as  a  debt  of  the 
United  States  contracted  by  the  former  govern- 
ment, amounts  to  more  than  ten  millions  of  dol- 
lars ;  and  that  this  sum  ought  to  be  deducted 
from  the  nominal  amount  of  debt  stated  to  have 
been  due  by  the  United  States  on  1st  Jan.  1790. 
But  even  the  warmest  supporters  of  the  as- 
sumption of  state  debts,  on  its  most  enlarged 
scale ;  even  those  who  think  that,  both  on  the 
score  of  justice,  and  in  order  to  relieve  them 
from  a  heavv  burthen,  it  was  wise  and  politic  to 
D 


C    26    ] 

have  assumed  the  whole  of  the  sum  which  was 
actually  assumed  in  favour  of  the  creditor  states; 
even  they  must  acknowledge,  that  an  assump- 
tion, made  at  random  before  the  accounts  were 
settled,  rendered  it  unavoidable  to  assume  debts 
in  favour  of  states  which  were  in  fact  already  in- 
debted to  the  Union,  and  that  the  consequence 
has  been  such,  as  might  have  been  foreseen. 
Thus  near  1,200,000  dollars  were  assumed  for 
the  state  of  New- York,  which,  when  the  ac- 
counts were  finally  settled,  was  found  to  be  in- 
debted to  the  Union  to  the  amount  of  more  than 
two  millions.  It  is  self-evident  that  the  debts, 
thus  assumed  for  debtor  States,  were  not  due 
by  the  United  States ;  that  they  are  not  a  part 
of  the  old  debt ;  that  they  are  a  debt  unnecessari- 
ly constituted  and  created  by  the  present  go- 
vernment. On  the  most  superficial  view  of  the 
subject,  it  appears  that  dollars  2,069,565.71 
have  thus  been  assumed  for  debtor  states,  to  the 
manifest  injury  of  the  other  states,  and  constitute 
an  additional  debt,  which  should  be  deducted 
from  the  amount  improperly  stated  as  the  debt 
contracted  by  the  former  government.  What 
part  of  that  sum  consisted  of  interest,  accrued 
after  the  year  1789,  does  not  appear  and  must 
be  estimated.  Considering  the  states  in  whose 
favour  that  unnecessary  assumption  took  place, 
it  is  not  believed,  that  that  interest  amounted  to 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  And  the  amount 


L    27    ] 

of  assumed  debt  created  by  the  present  govern- 
ment, and  to  be,  at  all  events,  and  in  the  most 
favourable  view  of  the  subject,  -deducted  from 
the  nominal  amount  of  debt  on  the  1st  January 
1790,  of  which  it  makes  no  part,  may  be  fairly 
estimated,  at  two  millions  of  dollars. 

III.  The  Committee  have  deducted  from  the 
amount  of  debt   due  on  the  1st  January  1790, 
the  sum  of  dollars  590,468.  60,  and  from  the 
amount  of  debt  due  on   the   1st  January  1800, 
the  sum  of  5,826,214   dollars,  being  the  esti- 
mated amount  of    uncollected  Custom  House 
bonds  not  yet  due,  but  which  may  hereafter  be 
received  in    the  treasury  ;  and  they   consider 
those  bonds  as  "  funds  acquired  by  government, 
and   which  may  be  applied  to  face  the  debt.,, 
The  constitution  has  given   to  government  the 
command  over  almost  all  the  resources  of  the 
United  States  ;  and  those  resources  may  in  a  ge- 
neral point  of  view  be  considered  as  funds  ac- 
quired to  government  by  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution.     In  what  then  do  those  Custom 
House  bonds  differ  from   the  other  general  and 
uncollected  resources  of  the  country  ?  Not  on 
account  of  the  persons   who  owe  them.     Were 
duties  on  imported  goods,  for  the  securing  of 
which  those  bonds  are  given,  ultimately  paid  by 
the   merchants    who    are  answerable  for  those 
bonds,   then  indeed  the   people   of  the  United 
States,  who  owe  the  public  debt,  might  take 


C     28      ] 

credit  for  the  amount   of  those  bonded  duties- 
payable  by  a  few  individuals.     But  those  duties 
are  paid  by  the  consumers,  by  the  people  them- 
selves.    The  merchants  are  only  the  collectors 
of  the  duties,  for  which   they  become  answer- 
able on  the  goods  being   imported  ;  and  the  ex- 
pence  of  collection  costs  to  the  consumers  from 
20  to  60  per  cent,  which  the  importers  and  other 
merchants   receive,   as   a  compensation  for  the 
trouble  and  risk  of  collection.     The  bonds  are 
in  fact  a  debt  due  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States  themselves,  and  which  cannot  be  deduct- 
ed from,  or  claimed  as  a  credit  by  them  against, 
the  mass  of  their  public  debt.     The  people  of 
the  United  States  owe  the  whole  amount  of  the 
public  debt  whatever  it  may  be,  and  the  amount 
of  uncollected  duties.     Give  them  credit  for  the 
amount  of  bonds   given  by  merchants   for  the 
securing  of  those  duties,  and  they  remain  still 
charged  with  the  whole  amount  of  the  public 
debt  without  any  deduction.     Those  bonds  differ 
from  the  other  resources   of  the  Union,  which 
government  may   also   command,   only  in  one 
particular,  in  that  their  amount  and  time  of  pay- 
ment are  ascertained.     And    in   that  particular 
they  in  no  way  differ  from  every  other  tax  of  the 
ensuing  year.     Those  bonds  are  nothing   more 
than  a  tax  assessed,  but  not    yet  collected,  and 
they  differ   in  nothing  frcm   the    land  tax,  the 
amount  of  which  was  precisely  ascertained,  and 


C    29    ] 

which  had  been  assessed  in  many  of  the  states 
on  the  1st  January  1800,  but  was  not  yet  col- 
lected. A  farmer,  whose  tax  was  assessed,  was 
as  much  indebted  to  government  for  the  amount 
of  his  tax,  as  the  merchant  for  his  bond.  Yet 
the  committee  have  taken  no  credit  for  the  land 
tax  which  as  well  as  those  bonds,  was  to  be  col- 
lected in  the  course  of  the  year  1800.  They 
have  not  even  taken  credit  for  the  uncollected 
duties  on  spirits  distilled  and  stills,  although  a 
great  part  of  these  were  actually  due.  The 
Committee  were  aware,  that  a  tax  not  yet  col- 
lected cannot  be  considered  as  a  set  off  against 
an  existing  debt ;  that  the  probable  amount  of 
such  a  tax  is  never  taken  in  account,  except  as 
making  part  of  the  probable  receipts  of  the  en- 
suing year  and  as  applicable  to  the  expences  of 
that  year.  And  it  appears  incredible  that  they 
should  not  have  perceived  that  those  bonded 
duties  were  precisely  in  the  same  situation  with 
all  other  taxes  to  be  collected  the  ensuing  year; 
that  they  were,  like  other  taxes,  payable  by  the 
body'of  the  people,  and  that  they  constituted  in 
fact  two  thirds  of  the  probable  receipts  of  the 
ensuing  year,  and  were  applicable  solely  to  the 
expences  of  that  year. 

The  Committee  say  that  those  bonds  are 
"  funds  which  may  be  applied  to  face  the  debt." 
The  Committee  well  knew  that  they  could  not 
be  applied  to  pay  the  debt.    No  part  of  them  can 


C    30    ] 

be  applied  to  pay  any  part  of  the  principal  of  the 
existing  debt,  unless  there  should  be  a  surplus  in 
the  receipts  of  the  present  year  over  the  current 
expenditure.  And  go  far  was  this  from  being 
the  expectation  of  Congress,  that  they  autho- 
rized a  loan  of  three  millions  and  a  half  of  dol- 
lars, in  order  to  cover  the  excess  of  expendi- 
tures over  the  receipts  of  this  year. 

The  Committee  say  "  that  a  considerable  part 
of  those  bonds  are  pledged  for  the  payment  of 
the  loans  obtained  from  the  Bank,  and  that 
ihose  loans  must  in  fact  be  discharged  from  the 
proceeds  of  that  pledge.,,  The  fact  is,  that 
those  loans  are  stated  by  an  official  statement  of 
the  treasury  department,  to  have  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  of  2co,ooo  dollars)  been  obtain- 
ed in  1795,  to  be  still  due,  but  continued  on  loan 
with  the  consent  of  the  Bank.  The  pledge 
given  was  the  surplus  of  revenue  of  1795  and 
1 796,  which  has  long  since  been  consumed :  and 
the  surplus  of  the  nominal  revenue  of  1799, 
which  consists  of  those  bonds,  is  not  probably 
pledged  for  those  loans.  But  the  Committee 
knew  that  those  loans  could  not  and  would  not 
in  fad  be  discharged  from  the  proceeds  of  those 
bonds.  For,  supposing  that  a  nominal  payment 
was  to  be  made  to  the  Bank  out  of  the  proceeds 
of  those  bonds,  that  is  to  say,  out  of  the  receipts 
of  the  present  year,  there  would  then  be  an  ad- 
ditional deficiency  to  the  same  amount  in  there- 


C     3i     ] 

ceipts  of  this  year  :  and  the  same  amount  would 
immediately  be  borrowed  again  from  the  Bank, 
in  order  to  coter  that  deficiency. 

The  same  thing  would  happen  in  case  govern- 
ment were  tq  sell  those  bonds  on  a  discount. 
This  they  might  do,  just  as  they  might  sell  the 
land  tax  for  the  ensuing  year,  or  for  ever,  as  has 
been  done  in  Great  Britain.  A  nation  may 
mortgage  its  future  resources,  or  in  other  words, 
the  probable  future  receipts  of  its  treasury  ;  but 
in  whatever  manner  this  is  done,  it  is  always 
borrowing  money  in  some  shape  or  other. 
Should  government  sell  those  bonds,  the  amount 
must  still  be  applied  to  defray  the  expences  of 
the  present  year,  or  in  case  it  was  applied  to  the 
payment  of  a  part  of  the  public  debt,  a  new  loan 
to  the  same  amount  must  immediately  be  ob- 
tained for  the  purpose  of  discharging  the  cur- 
rent expenditure. 

If  the  amount  of  those  bonds  is  actually  pay- 
able by  the  people  themselves,  and  altogether 
inapplicable  to  the  payment  of  any  part  of  the 
debt,  it  cannot  be  deducted  from  the  nominal 
amount  of  debt ;  the  only  real  difference  which 
exists  in  the  relative  situation  of  our  finances 
between  1790  and  1  Boo,  being,  that  government 
has  now  been  organized  a  suflicient  length  of 
time  to  have  secured  the  payment  of  a  conside- 
rable permanent  revenue  for  iSco,  and  the  en- 
suing years.     Should  they  hereafter   diminish 


C    &    3 

considerably  the  expenditure,  without  diminish- 
ing that  revenue,  the  surplus  would  then  be  ap- 
plicable to  the  payment  of  the  debt.  But  we 
must  wait  until  that  shall  have  been  done,  be- 
fore any  part  of  the  future  probable  receipts  of 
the  treasury  shall  be  allowed  as  a  credit  against 
the  existing  debt. 

From  those  considerations  it  appears  that  the 
public  debt  may,  according  to  the  two  different 
views  of  which  the  subject  is  susceptible,  be  cor- 
rectly stated  as  followeth  : 

I.  Nominal  amount  of  debt. 


On   ist  January   1790. 

Amount  sta'el  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury     -      -       72,237,301.97 
x/.W — difference  for  the   interest  on  dornestic    debt 

before  1790         -  -  -  17,670.46 

72,254>97z.  43 
Dubtff 

1.  Difference  on  the  French  debt      -      -       1,216.73 

2.  Premiums  on  Dutch  debt       -        -        263,000. 

3.  Difference  on  interest  on  the  <3»bt  due 

to  foreign  officers  -  it, 616.  53 

4.  Grant  to  General  Greene's  Ps'ate        -        71,453.  36 

5.  Debts  discharged  before  1790  -  15,927.  13 

6.  Proceeds  of  lands  sold  to  Pennsylvania     151,302.41 

7.  Debt  assumed  for  debtor  states  be- 

yond their  proportion         -        -       2,000,000. 

2,514,606.  16 


Amount  of  debt  on  lit  Jan.  1790     ^     -       69,740,366.27 


C     33     ] 

On  i st  January  i8co. 

Aanount  stated  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Trcafury     -        -     79,403,820.  50 
lutstanding  ra  debt,  wid  due  to  foreign 

ofocfra         -  -  100,184.  18 


79,504,004.  48 

1.  Si*  -  k    returned  ftotn 

Hol'and  -  20,373.  33 

2.  Premiums  on  Dutch  drbt  -  -        59,000 

3.  A  »  222,000 

3C*>373-  3.3 


An  <;n  15 1  Jan.  iScq       -       -       79,202,631.  1.5 

O.i  1  st  Jan.  179O       .       -       69,740,366.27 

Nominal   increase  of  debt  fioci  1790  to  i8eo       -       9,462.264.88 

The  different  items  of  which  the  debt  consist- 
ed on  those  two  days  respectively,  are  exhibi- 
ted in  the  Statement  No.  I.  annexed  at  the  end. 

II.  Comparative  view  formed  by  deducting, 
from  the  nominal  amount  of  debt,  the  funds 
actually  acquired  by  government. 

On  1  st  January    1790. 
Nominal  amount  of  debt  as  per  above  69,7^,366.27 

I     »  D  rn- 

ir.t-.-.t  to  I  I  re- 

i   if.  bprcJe  -  -  '.j.  74 

Debts  due  under   formsr  govern- 
.    Slate*  and   re- 

7.4,091.  31 

;.  C  ■  - .:.  \\ 

in  treasury       -        z^,zjr;,  61 

in  Colledor's  h  84 

07 

■ —  35^447-  S3 

438,125.88 


69,302,240.  39 

E 


L      34     J 

On  the  i  st  January  1800. 
Nominal  amount  of  debt  as  per  above  79>2°a>63i-  '5 

Dedu/l 

1.  Cash  in  Treasury         2,161,867,67 

In Collectors'  hands     532,247.  Si 

2,694,115.48 

2.  Remittances  said  to  have  been  made 

to  Holland,  beyond  the  payments 

due  in  1799       -  548,955.  S4 

' 3,243,071.  32 


Amount  for  1st  Jan.  1  Soo  -        -         7 5»959>5 59-  83 

1st  Jan.  1790         -  -        69,302,240.  39 


Leaves  for  increafe  of  debt  for  those  ten  yean,  after  de- 
ducting all  the  funds  actually  acquired  by  government, 
and  which  may  possibly  be  applied  towards  a  reduc- 
tion of  the  debt  -  ----J         6,657,319.44 

And  here  it  may  be  proper  to  observe,  that 
the  amount  of  Custom  House  bonds,  credited 
by  the  Committee,  and  excluded  from  the  above 
statement,  is,  for  the  ist  day  of  January  1800, 
dollars  5,826,214;  and,  f6r  the  ist  January 
1790,  dollars  590,468.  60.  The  difference  be- 
tween those  two  sums  is  dollars  5,235,745.  40  ; 
which,  deducted  from  the  sum  of  dollars 
6,657,319.  44,  would  still  leave,  even  on  the  in- 
admissible supposition  that  those  bonds  ought 
to  be  deducted,  an  increase  of  debt,  during  those 
ten  years,  of  dollars  1,421,574.  04. 


RECEIPTS  fcf  EXPENDITURES. 


THE  preceding  view  of  the  public  debt  shows 
only  the  final  result  of  the  financial  operations 
of  government.  The  operations  themselves  will 
appear  more  clearly  from  an  examination  of  the 
resources  enjoyed  by  administration,  and  of  the 
manner  in  which  these  have  been  applied.  Hence 
an  investigation  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures 
of  the  United  States  is  more  important  than  a 
detached  view  of  the  debt  itself.  And  this  will 
afford,  at  the  same  time,  means  of  ascertaining 
the  correctness,  not  of  the  principles,  but  of  the 
details  of  the  preceding  statements. 

There  are  two  modes  of  ascertaining  the  pro- 
gress or  diminution  of  the  public  debt  during 
any  given  period.  The  first,  which  has  "been 
pursued  by  the  Committee  and  in  the  preceding 
pages,  consists  in  comparing  the  amount  of  debt 
at  the  commencement  and  end  of  the  period 
respectively.  The  second,  which  may  be  de- 
duced from  a  view  of  the  receipts  and  expendi- 
tures, consists  in  comparing  the  amount  of  debt 
respectively  incurred  and  extinguished  during 
the  same  period.  And  if  the  same  principles 
are  pursued  in  both  modes,  the  result  must  be 
the  same  in  both,  provided  no  mistake  has  been 
made  in  the  details. 

The  statements  transmitted  by  the  treasury 


[     36     ] 

department  to  the  Committee,  in  relation  to  that 
object,  exhibit  the  receipts  in  the  treasury  and 
the  expenditures  by  the  treasury  distinctly  from 
those  in  Holland :  but  as  the  receipts  in  the  trea- 
sury consist  in  part  of  monies  drawn  from  Hol- 
land, and  the  receipts  in  Holland  in  part  of 
monies  remitted  from  America,  the  aggregate 
amount  of  receipts  and  expenditures  in  America 
and  Holland,  does  not  show  the  true  amount  of 
the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  the  United 
States.  The  following  alterations  in  those 
statements  are  necessary  in  order  to  exhibit  a 
correct  amount  of  those  receipts  and  expendi- 
tures. 

From  both  receipts  and  expenditures  must  be 
deducted 


From  the  amount  of  receipts  in  Holland  and  expenditures 
in  America,  monies  remitted  from  America  to 
Holland  __--_-_        5,621,660.  10 

From  the  amount  of  receipts  in  America  and  or"  expen- 
ditures in  Holland,    monies   drawn   from  Holland  to 

Amciica         _-•-__-       2,808,941.  02 
From   do.  monies  repaid   to  purchasers  of  fix  per  cent, 
stock  in  Holland,  being  part  of  interest    received    on 
the  same  in  America  -  -  14,226.  54 

From  the  amount  of  receipts  and  expenditures  in  Am  :- 
rica,  the  amount  of  Bills    drawn  on  Holland,  and  af- 
..rds  cancelled,  the  same  being   a  nominal  tr.ns- 
adlion         -  -  ...         2,cco,coo. 

From  the  amount  of  receipts  and  expenditures   in  Koi- 
mor.ies  remitted  from  America  to  Holland  for 
fa  of  the  war  and  diplomatic  departments,    and 
charged,  in  the  amount  of  expenditures  in  America, 

the  proper  depnrtmer.ts  -  3%°3''8q 

Fruin  do.  monies  lost  en  bills  of  exchange  and  deJucl- 
ed  from  the  an;.  on  other  Kills         -  -         14,814.85 

Total  deduc?tiens       -        -        10,496,734.  40 


C     37    ] 
To  both  receipts  and  expenditures  must  be  added 

*."Afl  1  .ing   in   hnn's    of  tlie  late  Paymaster  et 

the  commencement  of  th«  jied 

to  th«  account  of  the  war  department        -        -         -         107,605.07 
z.  Sale  or'  war   1  ice   ex^endou    in  paying  the 

ipal  or"  the  public  debt  -  -         -  8,962. 

5.  As  loan,    consisting   of  the    cost  of 

hjps  of  war  I  and    paid 

to  the  subscribers    irr  six  per  cent. 

th:.-  account  of  Navy  expenditures         ...  929,230. 

4.  Pront  on  bills  of  exchange   remitted  from  Holland   to 
d  to  tiie  account  or 
pended  ir.  interest  on  the  p-aL  -       3^0,772.51 



16,519.  5s 
pts  in  Hol- 
lar. Lea         --_-.         92,416,883.43 

y_ J  ^J 

[As  given  by  the  Secretary  ofthe  Treasury,  makesa  sum  of    93,^43,423.01 
D  which  deducting   the  amount  ofdedu&ioni  as    . 
abovc -  io,496>734. 40 


Leaves  the  amount  of  re  ted  in  Statement  No.  2. 

hereto  an;.  -  83,346,688.  61 


The  following  transposition  is  also  made  in 
statement  hereunto  annexed  No.  3,  viz* 

The  following  sums  which  in  the  statement  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  are  classed  under 
the  head  of  expenditures  for  interest  ofthe  debt, 
are  here  stated,  as  they  ely  were,  as  part 

of  the  monies  applied  towards  the  payment  of 
the  principal  ofthe  debt,  io  %M* 

1.  A  sum  of  dollars  226,608.  70,  being  the 
interest  which  accrued  till  May  1795  on  the  debt 
purchased  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  sinking 
fund.  That  sum  was  paid  as  interest  by  the 
treasury,  to  the  Commissioners,  and  applied  by 
them  to  the  purchase  of  the  public  debt. 


C    33    J 

2.  A  sum  of  dollars  5,437.  93,  being  the  dif- 
ference between  39,095  dollars  and  80  cents 
stated,  by  the  treasury  statement,  to  have  been 
paid  for  interest  on  the  debt  due  to  foreign  of- 
ficers, and  2>3^57  dollars  and  87  cents,  the 
whole  amount  of  interest  which  accrued  on  that 
debt  after  the  year  1789. 

From  those  statements  of  receipts  and  expen- 
ditures No.  2,  and  3  hereunto  annexed,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  whole  receipts  of  the  present  go- 
vernment, from  its  commencement  have  been 
from — 


Ola  drbts  received  -                                   502,667.   1-5 

Loans          -               -  ,      »5>77S»7s'5-  56 

Sales  of  Bank  stock  -           -         -  -     J, 

Sales  of  Lard          -  I  do,  339";  84 

Revenue          -  -                             54,242,213.  54 

Sundries           -  1,541,412.  54 

. L.  83,346,683.  61. 


And  that  the  expenditures  for  the  same  peri- 
od, have  been  for 

Fay.rcnrs  of  principal  of  the  debt     -      20,654.847.  30 
Subscription  to  the  Bank  of  the  United 

Star.;  -  2,oco,oco. 

Interest  of  the  public  debt         -       -     a7>«o9>43o.  35 
Military  establishment,  includir.g  land 

-  -  -  a        21,286,420.  84 

;stabiishment,-including 
civil  list  and  raiscellafieoM  exge&SM      6,324,626.  95 
ith  fbreigta  nations.        -       2,8*0,539.66 

80,63;,  3. 

;'ance  unexpended,  via. 
(  -       2,161,867. 6f  7      . 

d      544-5-4!     2'71°>S*3    51 

83,346,688.61 


C     39     ] 

The  nominal  increase  of  debt  during  that  pe- 
riod may  be  deduced  from  those  statements  on 
the  same  principles  already  explained,  in  the 
manner  following. 

^oni-<?    applied    to    the   payment  of  principal  of  the 
debt,  arc  Stated  at  -  -  -  20,654,847.  30 

r'lom  which  deducing  the  amount  of  debts   discharged 

before  1790  _._--  »5>9?7-  *3 

Leave:  for  the  true  amount  of  monies  applied  to  the  re- 
duction of  the  debt  after  1st  Jan.  1790.         -  -        20,638,920.  tj 

To  which  sum  the  following  additions  must 
be  made. 

1.  A    part  of  that   sum,  to  ivitf  dolls. 

19281.24  were  apj  bam 

of  the  public  debt  j    the  amount  pui- 

?dwasdoHs.   2,307,661.  7  1  j  the 

excess  of  debt  purchased  beyond  the 

monies  applied  to  purchases  is     -      -     603,380.  47. 

2.  Exclusively  of  the  receipts  in  specie 
into  the  treasury,  payments  have  been 
made  directly  in  evidence*  of  public 
debt,  «**,  for  lands  sold,  dolls. 
14,005.  93  ;  in  payment  of  old  debts, 
dollars  24,091.  31  j  and  commuta- 
tion returned  by  sundry  officers,  in  or- 
der to  be  placed  on  the  pension  Use, 
dolls.  32,^73.  71,  amounting  all  t 

ther  to         -  -  -  7*>S" 

3.  The  Bank  mares  still  owned    by 
United  States,  at  25  percent,  advance    1,110,000. 


1,869,351.4a. 


Total  amount  of  debt  extinguished  from  iscj.in.  1790  to 
1st  Jan.  1800,  considering  the  sank  shares  owned  by 
United  States,  as  C4uiv^lcnt  to  a  debt  extinguished     -     22,508,271.  ^9 

The  monies  received  on  loan  are  stated  at  ~5>775>~95-  5^ 

To  which  must  be  added 

I.  The  difference  between  the  nominal 
amount  of  si^  per  cent,  stock  issued  in 
j 796,  1/;;-?.  80  coo  dollars,  and  the 
amount  of  money  for  which  the  same 
was  soiti,  <v\z.  70;coo  dollars        -        -      T"\~ 


C    40    3 

2.  The  interest  which  accrued  after  ist 
Jan.  1790,  on  the  domestic  and  assumed 
debt,  and  was   funded,  insr.  ai    cf  being 

paid  -..  -         4,184,740.  91 

3.  The  debts    assumed   for  debtor    states 

beyond  their  proportion  -  -  2,ooo,cco. 

6,194,740.  91 

Total  amount  of  debt  incurred  from  1st  Jan.  1790,  to  1st 

Jan.    1800  -  -  -  -      _   -         3J>97°>536-  47 

From  which  deducting  the  amount  cA  debt  extinguished 

per  above         • -        22,508,271.  59 

Le;:ves  for  the  nominal  increase  of  debt  during   that  pe-  "J 

ri /d  (being  the  same  amount  heretofore  deduced  from  /  ,     2g      gg 

a  view  of  the  amount  of  debt   existing  at  the   com-  f     •''^     ' 
mehcemeht  and  end  of  the  period.)  J 

The  Statement  No.  4,  exhibits  a  comparative 
view  of  the  debt  incurred  and  extinguished  to 
the  ist  day  of  Jan.  i3oo  \  by  which  it  appears, 

1.  That  the  nominal  increase  of  debt  from  ist  Jan.  1790 

to  1st  Jan.  1796,  amounted  to  dollars       -  8,552,978.  59 

Which   sum    con^ist^d  of  three  items,  vhi. 
Interest  accrued  and  funded  instead  of  being 

paid  -  4,184,740.91 

State  debts  assumed  for  debtor  States  beyond 

their  proportion  -  2,000,00a. 

txwL-ss  of  expenditures  beyond  the  receipts     8)368,237.  68 


2.  That  thare  was  a  noreinal  decrcstc  of  debt  From    1st  Jan. 

1796,  to  1st  Jan.  1795,  amounting  to      -         -     -     3.874,524.  74 

?.  And  that  the  debt  incr#as©d  during  the  year  1799  W'  a 

sum  of         -  -  -       4,783,811-03 


It  is  believed,  that  those  different  views  of 
the  subject,  all  agreeing  in  their  result,  afford 
sufficient  proof  of  the  correctness  of  the  details, 
and  exhibit  all  the  facts  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
put  it  in  the  power  of  every  attentive  reader,  to 


C     41      ] 

distinguish  and  form  a  judgment  on  every  ques- 
tion on  which  a  difference  of  opinion  does  exist. 
The  next  important  consideration  is  that  of  the 
true  amount  of  monies  collected  from  the  peo- 
ple, and  of  their  application. 

It  appears  by  the  statement  of  receipts,  No.  2, 
that  the  monies  received  for  balances  of  old  ac- 
counts, loan?,  and  sales  of  bank  stock  and  land, 
together  with  the  profits  on  exchange,  amount 
to  dollars  27,977,382.  31.  If  from  that  sum 
are  deducted,  the  monies  applied  to  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  debt,  and  to  the  subscription  to  the 
Bank,  and  the  balance  remaining  unexpended 
on  the  1st  January  1800,  either  in  America  or 
IB  Holland,  which  several  items  arc  stated  in 
statement  of  expenditures  No.  3,  to  amount  to 
dollars  25,365.670.  81  ;  the  balance,  amount- 
ing to  dollars  2,6 1 1 ,7 1 1 .  50,  added  to  the  whole 
amount  of  monies  collected  from  the  people, 
will  be  found  to  have  discharged  the  whole  cur- 
rent expenditure  of  the  nation.  The  current 
expenditure  has,  therefore,  exceeded  the  ordi- 
nary revenue  by  a  sum  of  2,611,711  dollars  and 
50  cents ;  although  that  current  expenditure 
has  been  diminished  by  funding,  instead  of  dis- 
charging interest  on  the  public  debt,  to  the 
amount  of  dollars  4,184,740.  91. 

The  whole  of  the  current  expenditure  for  in- 
terest on  the  public  debt  and  the  military,  civil 
and  foreign  expenses,  by  statement  No.  3,  ap- 

r 


C     4*     ] 

pears  to  be  57,981,017  dollars  80  cents:  and 
the  amount  ui  "  revenue  and  sundries,"  by 
statement  No.  2,  nppears  to  be  555369,306  dol- 
lars 30  cents ;  which  added  to  the  balance  above 
stated,  of  2,61 1,711.  50,  constitute  likewise  an 
aggregate  of  57,981,017  dollars  and  80  cents. 
But  these  sums  are  only  an  apparent  and  not 
the  true  amount  of  the  monies  collected  from 
the  people,  and  of  the  current  expenditure.  For, 
1  st,  the  amount  of  "  sundries"  consists  princi- 
pally of  repayments,  which  ought  to  be  deduct- 
ed,, respectively,  from  the  expenditure  of  that 
department  to  which  they  were  originally  charg- 
ed ;  and  of  interest  received,  either  as  dividends 
on  the  Bank  shares  owned  by  the  United  States, 
or  on  stock  of  the  public  debt  purchased  from 
the  Bank  by  the  United  States  and  remitted  to 
Europe  ;  in  both  which  cases  it  may  properly  be 
considered  as  an  offset  against,  and  be  deducted 
from  the  amount  of,  interest  paid  by  the  United 
States  on  the  public  debt,  sdly,  Some  similar 
deductions  must  be  made  from  the  amount  of 
<c  miscellaneous  expenses,"  in  statement  No.  3. 
3dly,  The  apparent  amount  of  revenue,  includes 
only  the  monies  paid  in  the  treasury,  and  not  the 
expenses  of  collection ;  which  are  retained  by 
the  several  collectors  and  supervisors,  but  form, 
nevertheless,  a  part  of  the  monies  collected  from 
the  people,  and  of  the  current  expenditure. 
And  4thly,  The  sums  collected,  but  not  yet  paid 


C     43     J 

in  the  treasury,  by  the  collectors  of  revenue, 
should  also  be  noticed. 

I.  The  item  denominated  "  sundries,"  in  the 
statement  of  receipts  No.  2,  consists  of  the  fol- 
lowing items,  viz. 

To  be  deducted  from  the  payment  for  interest 
on  the  public  debt. 

1.  The  amount  of  dividends  received  on  the 

Bank,  stock  -  901,920. 

2.  Interest  received  for  six  per  cent,  stock 
from  the  time  when  it  was  purchased  until 
it  was  soU,  after  deducting  that  interest 
which  was  allowed  anJ  paM  to  the  pur- 
chasers in  Europe  -  112,048.46 

3.  Repayment    by    Committee   of  loaus  in 

'7V9 i,45s- 4^ 

1.015,426.  94 

To  be  deducted  from  the  payments  for  the  civil 

list. 

The  amount  of  fines  and  penalties  for  crimes  (the  expenses 
of  prosecution  for  offences,  others  than  breaches  of  the  re- 
venue laws,  being  i/.clud-'d  in  the  civil  list  expenditure)  4.646.50 

To  be  deducted  from  the  payments  for  the 
land,  military  or  war  department. 

1.  The  proceeds  of  salts  of  arms  to  France         8,962. 

2.  do.  of      do.  to  South  Carolina     4,240. 

3.  Repayments,  fay  -  -  1 3.  50 

4.  Sum  repaid  on  account  of  monies  advanced 
to  discharge  certain  arrearages  to  the  late 
Maryland  line,  and  suppoud  to  have  been 
originally  included  in  the  expenses  of  the 

war  department  -  -  5*394-5  7 

— — 18,610.  07 

To  be  deducted  from  the  payments  for  the 
naval  department. 

I.  Repayment  -  172.  58 

z.  Sales  of  French  armed  vessels  captured  by 

the  Navy  of  the  United  States  -  12,549.  24 

—  12,721.8a 


[     44     1 

To  be  deducted  from  the  miscellaneous  ex- 
penses. 

i.   Repayment  on  account  of  Indian  depart- 
ment -  12,942.77 

2.  Repayment  from    the    agents    for   Hght 

houses  -  -  .  rp.}..  n 

3.  Amount  of  cents  and  half  cents  coined  at 

the  Mint  -  48,041.  42 

61,908.   30 

To  be  deducted  from  the  expenses  for  inter- 
course with  foreign  nations. 

A  repayment  by  a  public  minister  in  Holland  -  -  20. 

To  be  deducted  from  the  expenses  of  the  col- 
lection of  duties,  which  expenses  shall  be  here- 
after stated. 

1.   Sale  of  revenue  cutters,    the  expense  of 

those   cutters  being  generally  included    in 

those  of  col  lection  -  -  I>393« 

a.   Forfeitures  for  breaches  of  revenue  law  in 

1799  -  12.34a.  31 


Amount  of  profit  on  notes  and  remittances,  to  be  added  to 
the  above  stated  balance  of  2, 611, 711.  50,  which  ba- 
lance includes  other  similar  profits  -  -  23.  S2 


Total  amount  of  the  item  "  Sundries"  in  statement  No.  2     1,127,092.  76 


II.  The  following  items,  part  of  the  sum  of 
dollars  2,059,211.  61,  stated  as  the  amount  of 
miscellaneous  expenses,  ought  to  be  deducted 
from  the  nett  receipts  of  revenue,  being  princi- 
pally expenses  of  collection. 

Part  of  the  expenses  of  collection  of  duties  on 
imports. 

1.  Payment  of  demands  for  unclaimed  merchandize      763*28 
a.   Payments  for  building  revenue  cutters  -  623*02      i>jS6.  30 

Purchase  cf  vellum,  &c.  for  stamp  duty,  being  part  of  the  ex- 
pense of  collection  of  internal  duties  -  -  3>°83-  C'O 

4,469.  90 


[     45      ] 

There  may  be  some  other  expenses  of  the 
same  nature,  amongst  some  of  the  items  which 
constitute  that  article  of  miscellaneous  expenses, 
and  which  should  also  be  deducted  from  the  net 
amount  of  revenue  or  added  to  the  expenses  of 
collection  ;  but  as  they  are  not  distinguishable 
in  the  statements  annexed  to  the  report  of  the 
committee,  they  shall  not  be  noticed.  It  will, 
however,  in  this  place,  be  proper  to  state,  that 
in  the  amount  of  dollars  592,905.  y6  stated  as 
the  civil  list  expenditure  for  1799,  are  included 
159,076  dollars  and  10  cents  expended  for  the 
valuation  of  lands  and  dwelling  houses,  and 
which  ought  in  the  present  view  of  the  subject 
rather  to  be  placed  under  the  head  of  "  expenses 
of  collection,"  than  as  part  of  the  civil  list  ex- 
penses. 

III.  The  apparent  amount  of  revenue  as  stated 
in  statement  No.  3,  and  amounting  to  dollars 
54., 242, 213.  54,  consists  of  the  following  items 
as  stated  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 


Duties  on  imports  and  tonnage  -          5^,321,525.77 

Internal  duties           -  -               3,632,768.  93 

Postage  of  letters              -  lfto,8oS.  84 

Fees  on  patents         -         -  -         -              7,110. 

54,242,213.54. 


In  that  amount  of  internal  duties  are  included 
the  drawbacks  paid  on  the  exportation  of  do- 
mestic distilled  spirits,  refined  sugar  and  snuff, 


[     46     ] 

or  rather  as  much  of  those  drawbacks  as  are  re- 
turned to  the  exporter  on  account  of  the  duty 
on  the  manufacturer.  As  those  drawbacks  are 
paid  by  the  collectors  of  duties  on  imports  and 
tonnage,  they  diminish  so  far  the  payments  made 
by  those  collectors  in  the  treasury,  which  consti- 
tute the  apparent  receipts  from  those  duties. 
The  amount  of  those  drawbacks  should  there- 
fore be  deducted  from  the  amount  of  internal 
duties,  and  added  to  the  amount  of  duties  on  im- 
ports and  tonnage. 

The  total  amount  of  drawbacks  paid  to  the 
end  of  1-98  on  exported  domestic  distilled  spi- 
rits, is  stated  by  the  treasury  department  at  dol- 
lars 547,039.  47  ;  and  supposing  the  drawbacks 
for  1799  equal  to  those  of  1798,  the  whole 
amount  of  drawbacks  on  spirits  to  the  1st  Jan. 
1800,  may  be  stated  at        -  590,000. 

The  total  amount  of  drawbacks  paid  to  the  end  of  179S  on 
eipoitfd  refined  su^ar,  is  stated   at  39,681.  71,  and  in- 

l    paiJ  during  1  799,  may  be  estimated  at         -        -       43,000. 
count  ut "drawbacks  paid Ion  exported  snuff  is  about     -      -       21,000. 


All  together         654,000. 


But  as  the  drawback  on  spirits,  includes  not 
only  seven  cents  per  gallon  returned  as  the  duty 
on  the  manufacture,  but  also  a  duty  which  has 
ed  from  3  to  4  cents  per  gallon,  returned  as 
the  duty  laid  on  the  importation  of  molasses ; 
and  as  the  drawback  on  refined  sugar  is  also  in 
on  account  of  the  duty  of  1  cents  per 


[   .47     ] 

pound  on  the  manufacture,  and  in  part  on  ac- 
count of  the  duty  on  brown  sugar  imported,  it 
is  necessary  to  make  the  proper  deductions  from 
the  total  amount  of  drawbacks,  as  paid  at  the 
Custom  Houses ;  and  it  will  be  found  that  the 
true  amount  of  drawbacks,  paid  on  those  arti- 
cles, solely  on  account  of,  and  returned  as  the 
amount  of  the  internal  duty  laid  on  the  manu- 
facture is  -  for  spirits  447,000  dollars,  for  re- 
fined sugar  17,000  dollars,  and  for  snuff  21,000 
dollars,  all  together  485,000  dollars;  which  sum 
deducted  from  the  apparent  amount  of  internal 
duties,  and  added  to  the  apparent  amount  of 
duties  on  imports  and  tonnage,  will  make  the 
amount  of  duties  on  imports 
and  tonnage  -----  50,806,525.  77 
And    the  amount   of  internal 

duties 3,147,768. 


To  these  sums  thus  corrected  it  is  necea 
to  add  the  expenses  of  collection. 

The  expenses  of  collection,  paid  out  of  the 
revenue,  on  the  duties  on  imports  and  tonnage, 
from  the  commencement  of  the  present  govern- 
ment to  the  1st  January  1799  amount  to 
2,08 S,  1 53.  34.  Valuing  those  for  1799  at  about 
the  average  of  those  of  1797  and  1798,  1;.:. 
dollars  361,846.  66,  will  give  for  the  whole 
2,450,000  dollars.  In  addition  to  these,  the 
officers   receive  fees  paid  by   individuals,  and 


C    48    ] 

which,  although  they  are  not  brought  in  the  ge- 
neral account  of  revenue,  are  not  less  monies 
collected  from  the  people,  and  a  part  of  the  ex- 
penses of  collection.  The  whole  amount  of  fees 
received  by  the  collectors  has  never,  it  is  believ- 
ed, been  stated ;  but  that  of  several  years  has 
been  transmitted  to  Congress.  The  fees  receiv- 
ed during  1798  amounted  to  101,000  dollars, 
and  by  comparing  the  amount  of  several  years, 
it  appears  probable  that  they  amount  to  about 
one  and  one  half  per  cent,  of  the  whole  amount 
of  monies  paid  for  those  duties  in  the  treasury, 
or  to  about  760,000  dollars  from  the  commenc- 
ment  of  the  present  government,  to  the  1st  of 
January  1800.  The  whole  of  the  expenses  of 
collection  of  those  duties,  may,  therefore,  be 
computed  at  3,210.000,  which  is  about  six  and 
one  third  per  cent,  on  the  total  amount  of  net 
receipts  in  the  treasury,  or  something  less  than 
six  per  cent,  on  the  amount  of  monies  collected 
from  the  people  on  account  of  those  duties. 

The  receipts  from  the  duties  in  1798  were 
7,106,061.  93  ;  and,  adding  the  drawbacks  on 
spirits,  refined  sugar  and  snuff,  amounted  to 
7,137,976.  54.  For  that  year  the  expenses  of 
collection  paid  out  of  the  revenue  were  dollars 
376,063.43,  and  the  fees  101,000  dollars,  in 
all  477,000  dollars,  or  near  six  and  two-thirds 
per  cent,  on  the  net    receipts  in  the  treasury. 

The  expenses  of  collection,  on  the  internal 


C     49     ] 

duties,  are  estimated  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  have  amounted,  from  their  com- 
mencement to  the  close  of  the  year  1798,  to 
dollars  602,080.  26.  Those  for  the  year  1799 
cannot  have  been  far  from  150,000  dollars. 
The  gross  amount  of  the  emoluments  of  the  of- 
ficers for  the  year  1798,  exclusively  of  the  con- 
tingent expenses  (valued  at  10,000  dollars) 
amounted  to  dollars  125,781.  76 ;  and  their  sa- 
laries and  compensations  were  larger  in  1799 
than  in  1798.  The  total  amount  of  expenses 
of  collection,  for  that  class  of  duties,  may, 
therefore,  be  estimated  to  the  1st  January  1800 
at  750,000  dollars,  being  almost  24  per  cent, 
on  the  net  receipts  in  the  treasury  during  the 
same  period,  or  about  19  and  one  half  per  cent, 
on  the  amount  of  monies  collected  from  the 
people  on  account  of  those  duties. 

The  total  amount  of  expenses  of  collection 
lor  both  classes  of  duties  may,  therefore,  be  esti- 
mated at  3,960,000  dollars. 

IV.  The  monies  received  by  the  several  col- 
lectors  and  supervisors,  and   not  yet   paid  into 
the  treasury,  are  either  ascertained  by  a  settle- 
;.  of  accounts,  or  yet  unknown,  and  depend- 
ing on  a  future  settlement  of  accounts. 

It  appears,  that  on  the  1st  January  1799,  the 

balances  due  by  the  collectors  of  the   customs, 

and    ascertained    to  consist  of  cash   in   hand, 

amounted    to    dollars  888,368.  64.       On   the 

G 


L    50    ] 

same  day,  there  was  a  sum  of  1,428,948.  5,8, 
stated  to  be  nominally  due  by  collectors,  but 
consisting  partly  of  duties  uncollected,  and 
partly  of  cash  in  hand.  Supposing  the  cash  in 
hand  to  have  borne  the  same  proportion  to  the 
whole  sum,  which  the  ascertained  sum  of  dollars 
888,368.  64  bore  to  the  gross  amount  of  uncol- 
lected duties  and  cash  in  hand,  charged  to  the 
collectors  who  owed  the  said  ascertained  sums, 
that  cash  in  hand  (part  of  tjie  above  sum  of  dol- 
lars 1,428,948.  58)  must  have  amounted  to 
something  more  than  123,000  dollars.  The 
cash  in  hands  of  collectors  of  customs  may, 
therefore,  be  estimated  to  have  been  on  the  1st 
January  1799  about  one  million  of  dollars.  * 

The  statement  from  whieh  those  sums  are  ex- 
tracted, was  laid  before  congress  in  April — May 
1800,  and  was  probably  completed  by  the  trea- 
sury department  in  March  1800.  It  exhibits 
the  names  of  one  hundred  and  one  collectors  ; 
the  accounts  of  ninety-four  were  settled  at  that 
time,  (March  1800)  to  the  close  of  1798  ;  and 
only  seven  were  not  settled  to  that  day.  Of 
those  seven,  three  were  collectors  not  in  office. 
The  balances  stated  to  be  due  by  the  other  four, 
were  due  on  the  days  to  which  their  accounts 
were  settled  (31st  December  1797,  and  30th 
Jane  1798)  and  might  be  something  more  or 
less  on  the  31st  December  1798.  The  diffe- 
rence could  not,  however,  materially  change  the 


C    |i    3 

result.  Of  the  afcertained  sum  of  888,368  dol- 
lars and  64  cents  in  hands  of  collectors  on  the 
1st  January  1799 ;  221,538  dollars  and  9  cents 
were  due  by  eighteen  late  collectors,  sixteen  of 
whom  had,  on  that  day,  been  more  than  one 
year  out  of  office. 

The  accounts  of  the  supervisors  of  the  inter- 
nal revenues,  are  far  from  being  settled  in  as 
satisfactory  a  manner,  as  even  those  of  the  col- 
lectors. 

By  the  same  statement,  it  appears,  that  on 
the  1  st  January  1799,  there  was  a  sum  due  by 
supervisors  out  of  office,  amounting  to  31,183 
dollars  and  24  cents  :  that  at  the  time  when  the 
statement  was  completed  (March  i8co)  the  ac- 
counts of  eight  supervisors  in  office,  were  settled 
to  the  close  of  1798  ;  the  cash  in  hand,  of  those 
eight  officers,  amounting  on  that  day  to  dolls. 
99,518.20;  that  at  the  same  time,  (March 
1800)  the  accounts  of  six  other  supervisors  were 
settled,  either  to  the  30th  June  1797,  the  31st 
Dec.  1797,  or  the  30th  June  1798;  that  the 
cash  in  hand,  of  five  of  these  last  supervisors, 
amounted  to  114,340  dollars  and  72  cents,  at 
the  time  respectively  when  their  accounts  were 
settled  ;  a  sum  which  may  have  increased  or  di- 
minished since  that  time  ;  that  the  uncollected 
duties,  and  cash  in  hand  (both  blended  together) 
charged  to  the  sixth,  amounted  to  108,027.  26 
on  the  30th  June  1797,  date  of  the  settlement 


L    52    ] 

of  his  account — and  that  the  accounts  of  the 
two  other  supervisors,  (Pennsylvania,  Kentuc- 
key,  and  N.  W.  Territory)  have  never  yet  been 
fettled.  From  those  data,  it  is  impossible  to 
ascertain  with  precision  the  monies  in  hands  of 
the  supervisors ;  and  it  must  be  added,  that 
there  are  also  sums  of  money  in  the  hands' of 
the  collectors  of  the  internal  revenues,  which 
are  not  ascertained.  This  points  out  one  of  the 
principal  causes,  why  the  accounts  of  the  super- 
visors are  not  settled  as  punctually  as  those  of 
the  collectors  of  customs.  Those  have  only 
to  settle  each  their  respective  accounts ;  but  the 
supervisors  having  under  them  inspectors  and 
collectors  of  the  internal  revenues,  the  unsettled 
accounts  of  any  one  ol  those  collectors  is  suffi- 
cient to  prevent  the  final  settlement  of  the  ac- 
counts of  the  supervisor. 

In  one  of  the  statements  (No.  8)  annexed  to 
the  report  of  the  committee,  the  balances  in 
hands  of  the  collectors  of  customs,  at  the  close 
of  1799,  are  stated  at  only  447,296  dollars  and 
1 7  cents ;  and  those  in  hands  of  the  supervisors, 
at  the  same  date,  at  84,951  dollars  and  64  cents. 
That  account  can  be  reconciled  with  the  preced- 
ing on  three  suppositions — either  that  in  the  ac- 
counts of  receipts  and  expenditures  from  which 
the  preceding  facts  are  extracted,  the  amount 
of  duties  actually  due,  but  not  yet  paid,  are 
considered  as  cash  in  the  hands  of  collectors, 


[     53     1 

or  that  the  balances  had  been  considerably  di- 
minished by  payments  during  the  year  1799 — 
or  that  the  statement,  annexed  to  the  report  of 
the  committee,  exhibits  only  the  sums  positively 
known  to  be  subject  to  the  disposal  of  the  trea- 
sury, excluding  all  sums  not  actually  settled,  and 
all  those  which,  on  account  of  insolvency  of  of- 
ficers of  the  revenue,  or  of  other  circumstances 
causing  a  delay,  could  not  immediately  be  re- 
ceived in  the  treasury. 

Although,  therefore,  it  is  probable  that  an 
amount  of  about  1,400,000  dollars  has  been  col- 
lected from  the  people,  over  and  above  the  re- 
ceipts in  the  treasury,  and  expenses  of  collec- 
tion, as  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain,  with  any  de- 
gree of  precision,  the  real  amount,  as  the  object 
of  this  enquiry  is  principally  to  show  the  appli- 
cation of  the  monies  collected  from  the  people, 
and  as  the  amount  in  the  hands  of  the  officers  of 
the  revenue,  whatever  it  maybe,  is  yet  unexpend- 
ed, it  may  be  omitted  in  the  present  view  of  the 
subject. 

From  those  data  is  deduced  the  following 
statement  of  the  amount  of  monies  collected 
from  the  people,  and  of  their  application.  The 
only  part  of  that  statement  grounded  on  estimate, 
is  that  which  relates  to  the  expenses  of  collection; 
and  as  those  expenses  are  added,  both  to  the 
amount  of  monies  collected,  and  to  that  of  expen- 
diture, any  mistake  there  affects  not  any  other 
result. 


[  54  : 

The  revenue  arising  from  duties  on  imports  and  ton- 
nage, including;  expenses  or' collection,  and  making 
the  icviral  allowances  tor  drawbacks,  forfeitures, 
cutters,  and  unclaimed  merchandize  above  noted, 
was  -  54,015,374.  78 

The  revenue  arising  from  internal  duties,  including 
expenses  of  collection,  and  making  the  allowances 
for  drawbacks,  and?  purchase  of  vellum  above 
noted  -  3,894,685.  33 

The  revenue  arising  from  postage,  excluding  the  ex- 
penses of  collection,  which,  in  relation  to  that  re- 
venue, are  not  considered  as  monies  collected  from 
the  people,  but  as  the  payment,  by  the  persons  re- 
ceiving letters,  for  a  benefit  immediately  accruing 
totheai  -  -  2S^,So8. 34 

Tiie  revenue  arising  from  fees  on  patents,  &c.  -  7»ii°. 

Total  amount  of  monies  collected  from  the  people,"^ 
from  the  establishment  of  the  present  government  | 

to  the  isr  January  i^oo,  exclusively  of  the  rnonk-s  y    -      58,201,478.  95 
leceived  by  the  collectors  of  the  revenue,  and  not  I 
yet  paid  by  the  people  J  ■ 

And  that  sum,  together  with  the  above  men- 
tioned balance  of  dollars  2,61 1,7  -  5.  32,  consist- 
ing of  the  excess  of  the  proceeds  of  loans,  sales 
of  Bank  stock  and  lands,  balance  arising  from 
the  former  government,  and  profits  on  exchange 
over  the  sums  applied  to  the  subscription  of  the 
Bank,  and  to  the  payment  of  the  principal  of  the 
public  debt,  and  with  the  above  noted  item  of 
23  dollars  and  82  cents,  arising  from  profit  on 
remittance,  &c.  make  an  aggregate  of  dollars 
60,813,214.  27,  which  has  been  expended  in 
the  following  manner. 

1.  Interest  on  the  public  d?bt,  deducting  the  amount 
1:  dividends  on  Bank  thave-i,  interest  on  f.ix  percent, 
stock,  and  repayment  above  Stated  -  -  16,54.1,003.  4 1 

il  li  ;,  including  the  expences  of  assessing  the 
land  tax,  and  deducl'mg  the  amount  pf  penalties  for 
crimes  above  sta  -  -  4,160,76s.  S4 


I  f  rward  -  -  -  30^04,77*1*5 


[    55     J 

Brought  forward  -  30,804,772.  25 

3.  Miscellaneous  expenses,  deducting  the  repayments 
for  the  Indian  department  and  light  houses,  the  pur- 
chase of  vellum,  cutters,    Sec.    and    the  amount  of 

and  h.ilf  cents  coined  at  the  mint,  and  consist- 
ing of  the  folio. ving  items,  viz. 

isions  to  invalids  -  -  908,607.  34 

2.  Indian  treaties  and  trade  -  183,525.23 

3.  Light  house  establishment  -        ^^^,jS^.  92 

4.  Mint  do.  (a)  -  86,581.  63 

5.  Annuities  and    grants,    including  "J 

that  to  General  Greene's  estate,  and  one  (  » 

of  1  5,000  dolls,  to  the  French  refugees  f    ^  '   °°-  3 

from  St.  Domingo  J 

6  Census  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  U.S.  443,77-. 
n  to  the  ci^y  of  Washington  100,000. 

8.  Contingent     and    miscellaneous 
demands  197,15c 


6.   Land  military  establishment,  deducting 
And  tales  of  aims,  vis. 

1.  Armv  -  -  11,314,639.42 

2.  Fortifi  utions  -  >93*-  54 

3.  Purchases  of  arms  and  stores  848,223.   23 

4.  Expenses  attending  mil 
ditions  in  Pennsylvania, 

rettions  in  1794  and  1  1    '  ■■  -ooe. 


1,992,833.41 


4.   Expenses  of  collection  of  the  revenue  estimated  at  3,950,000. 

5.   In -r  1  foreign  nations,    deducting   a  re- 

payment above  noted,  viz. 

1.  Support  of  Ministers  and   incidental 

expenses  -  -  -  759>2Q3-  76 

2.  Protection  of  American  Seamen  5<V 

3.  Expense  of  prize  cau  ts  8o,oco. 

4.  Expenses   incident    on    the    treaty 

with  Gnat  Britain  -  j6*,T20.  1 3 

5.  do.  do.        cio.        with  Spain       75,683. 

6.  Payments  for  treaties  with  Algiers, 

and  other  Barbary  pnvns  -  1,682,412.77 


2,810,519.  66 


14,969,-94.24 
Navy,  deducing  repayment  and  proceeds  of  pr'ucs 
as  per  above  ...  6,285,294.71 


Amount  of  the  (tftval  expenditure  to  the  1st  January 
I  800,  tx  elusive  of  the  monies  app'.;  mic- 

tion  of  the    debt,   and    to  the   subscription  to  the 
Bank  -  60,813,214.27 


(a  I  Exclusively   of    the    pay  of  the    officer,    of  the 
t,  included  in  civil  list,  and  amounting,  f'om  its 
establishment  t6  the    tst  of  »o",  to 

♦lolla:  s  70,172.  55 — in  all  dollars  1  j 


C    56    J 

It  must  be  understood,  that  this  statement,  in 
relation  principally  to  the  three  last  items  of  in- 
tercourse with  foreign  nations,  military  esta- 
blishment, and  navy,  exhibits  only  the  disburse- 
ments from  the  treasury,  but  not  the  ultimate  ap- 
plication of  the  money.  The  accounts  usually 
transmitted  to  Congress,  with  few  exceptions, 
show  only  the  advances  made  by  the  treasury 
to  the  Secretary  of  State,  (as  agent  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  expenses  incident  to  the  in- 
tercourse with  foreign  nations)  to  the  Paymas- 
ter, Quartermaster-general,  Purveyors  of  public 
fupplies,  Contractors  for  provisions  and  supplies, 
Agents  for  building  ships,  and  for  other  fervices, 
&c._;  but  do  not  exhibit,  except  in  afew  inftances, 
the  application  of  monies  by,  and  settlement  of 
accounts  of,  those  several  receivers  of  public 
monies.  A  number  of  those  accounts  are,  how- 
ever, finally  settled  at  the  treasury  :  and  al- 
though the  apparent  amount  of  monies  yet  un- 
accounted for,  or  of  unsettled  accounts,  was  un- 
derstood, on  the  1st  January  last,  to  exceed 
eight  millions  of  dollars,  yet  the  several  persons 
who  appear  thus  charged  with  balances,  have, 
in  many,  and  may,  in  all  instances,  have  applied 
the  monies  received  by  them  from  the  treasury 
to  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  paid  or  ad- 
vanced by  the  treasury.  How  far  this  may  be 
true,  or  how  far,  on  the  contrary,  public  monies 
may  have  been  misapplied  by  the  agents  who 


L     57    ] 

first  received  them  from  the  treasury,  or  by  the 
persons  amongst  whom  those  agents  may  have 
distributed  the  same,  cannot  be  deduced  from 
the  public   accounts   transmitted  to  Congress, 
nor  ascertained  until  the  accounts  are  fully  set- 
Nor  do  the  statements  made  to  Congrefs 
give  any  view,  except  in  the  instance  of  collec- 
already  noticed,  and  perhaps  in  a  few  soli- 
cases,  of  the  balances  actually  found  due  to 
l  [nited  States  on  settlements  of  accounts,  or 
of  the  length  of  time  for  which  they  may  have 
;  due.     One   fact  appears   rather  extraordi- 
nary.    The  whole  amount  of  monies  received 
from  March   17S9  to  January  1800,  from  per- 
sons '  d  to  the  United  States  for  balances 
of  accounts  which  originated  under  the  former 
government,  and   including,   therefore,   all  the 
of  the  last  war  accounts,  amount  only, 
including  interest,  to  dollars    86,678.  05.      It 
would  be  useful  to  publish  statements  of  the  ac- 
counts actually   settled,   showing  the  ultimate 
and  real   application  of  the   monies  advanced, 
and  of  tl     .  .  which  may  have  been  found 
due  on  settlement  and  remain  unpaid— and  of 
the  accounts  only  partially  settled,  or  unsettled, 
i  bowing   the  application  of  monies  so  far  as  a 
partial  settlement  has  been  made,  and  the  balan- 
ces remaining  unaccounted  for ;  and  distinguifh- 
ing  I              ■,  amongst  apparently  unsettled  ac- 
counts have  been  rendered,  and 
H 


L    58    ] 

plausible  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  account 
given,  but  a  final  settlement  remains  suspended 
for  want  of  sufficient  vouchers  ;  from  those, 
where,  after  a  reafonable  time  has  been  given, 
no  plausible  account  has  been  rendered. 

As  there  are  two  subjects,  which  have  to  a 
considerable  degree  attracted  public  attention, 
the  expenses  of  the  Algerine  treaty,  and  those 
incurred  on  account  of  the  differences  with 
[  France  j  these  observations  will  be  concluded 
by  some  details  relative  to  those  two  points. 

I.  The  whole  amount  of  appropriations  for 
treaties  with,  and  payments  to  Algiers  and  the 
other  Mediterranean  powers,  is  dolls.  1,848,717. 
97  ;  the  balance  remaining  unexpended,  on 
31st  December  1797,  166,295.  20  ;  the  amount 
paid  by  the  treasury,  to  that  day,  dollars 
1,682,422.77.  Of  these  it  is  probable  that 
1,500,000  dollars  have  been  paid  for  Algiers, 
and  the  balance  to  the  other  Mediterranean 
powers  ;  and  that  one  million  and  a  half  may 
be  arranged  under  three  heads — treaty — annui- 
ties— extraordinary  extortions,  or,  in  official 
language,  "  unexpected  demands." 

The  treaty  expenses  are  estimated  at  dollars 
1,131,391.  03,  and  consist  of  four  items. 


C     59     ] 

i .  The  original  cost  of  the  treaty  seems  to 
have  been  816,413  dollars,  to  wit. 

To  be  paiJ  the  D.y         -  180,000 

The  Dey's  family  -  60,000 

Department  of  Tr  -  -  40,000 

The  several  officer*  of  government,  anil  of 

the  household,  from  the  chief  Aga  to  the 

t  .  j  cooks  -  65,000 

Redemption  of  100  Captives  -  l3o,000 

This  is  called  the  prime  cost  of  the  treaty 

Per  ccntage  on  the  captives              -               -  -             77,000 

Other  expenses  not  enuT.crated              -              -  90, 

Naval  stor  s  irfp  ilated  at  57  roo  dollars,  cost  -           124,413 

Freight  of*  the  sami                                -  -               50,000 


816,413 


2.  For  contingencies,  including  expenses  for 
captives,  &c.  the  c  .  on  which  the  ap- 
propriation was  made,  amounted  to  dollars 
45,064.  44. 

3.  The  money  designed  for  the  treaty  was  in 
London.  The  peculiar  circumstances  of  Europe, 
which  rendered  the  exportation  of  coin  from 
England  impossible,  and  remittances  to  other 
parts,  difficult ;  the  want,  perhaps  of  sufficient 
knowledge  or  capacity  in  money  transactions, 
of  one  of  the  principal  agents  of  the  United 
States;  and  the  precipitation  of  a  subordinate 
agent,  who  landed  at  Algiers  the  3d  September 
1795,  and  signed  the  treaty  the  5th  ;  combined 
together  to  prevent,  on  the  part  of  the  agents 
of  the  United  States,  a  punctual  fulfilment  of 
the  conditions  of  the  treaty.  The  money  was 
payable  at  farthest  on   1st  January   1796,  and 


[     6o     ] 

had  not  been  remitted  to  Algiers  in  April.  The 
Dey  became  impatient,  threatened  to  abandon 
the  treaty,  and  to  renew  his  depredations.  In 
order  to  save  the  treaty,  the  agents  of  the  United 
States  were  induce  i  to  offer  the  present  of  a 
frigate,  the  price  of  which  was  estimated  at 
dollars  -  99?727 
which  added  to  an  additional  expense, 
incident  to  the  same  transaction  of  -  18,000 
made  for  the  loss  arising  from  delays,  dis- 
appointment and  mismanagement  in  Eii 

rope,  dollars      ...         -  117,727 


4.  The  sum  of  800,000  dollars,  appropriat- 
ed for  the  Algerine  treaty,  was  borrowed  from 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  The  Bank, 
whose  original  capital  consisted  of  a  large 
amount  of  six  per  cent,  stock,  did  not  choose  to 
lend  specie,  but  offered  six  per  cent,  stock  at 
par.  The  stock  was  borrowed  on  those  terms 
between  21st  February  and  7th  March  1795. 
The  loan  was  authorized  on  the  first  of  those 
days,  and  the  stock  remitted  to  our  Bankers  in 
London  on  the  last.  Of  that  sum  560,000  dol- 
lars were  sold  for,  sterling  £.  111,053.  I5-° 
equal  to  dollars  493,572.  22,  and  by  report  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  remaining 
240,000  dollars  were  estimated  at  80  per  cent. 
or  192,000  dollars.  The  whole  800,000  dol- 
lars six  per  cent,  borrowed  at  par  from  the  Bank, 


L     61     ] 

produced  685,572.  22  effective  dollars  in  Lon- 
don. The  loss  on  that  remittance  was  therefore 
dollars  114,427.  78.  There  was  another  loss 
arising  from  having  remitted  that  stock  to  Lon- 
don, on  occount  of  loss  on  the  r:.te  of  exchange 
thence  to  the  Mediterranean.  This  loss  is  esti- 
mated, in  the  same  document,  from  which  these 
facts  are  extracted,  at  dollars  -  37,758.  81 
making  all  together  for  losses  dolls.  152,186.  59 


1.   T1  •  treaty  oiiginal!;'  cost  d  !!s. 

- 

816,413. 

44 

3.  I. 

8c  mismariagi 

■  tvope          -        -          1 17,7:17. 

4.  Loss    arising    from     six 

r  cent,    sto.k    having 
.  remitted  lo  Loudon    1  $l,iS6 

£61,477. 

1 
> 

44 

26^913. 

- 

5»»39> 



■0? 

The  annuity  to  be  paid  to  the  Dey  was  stipu- 
lated at  24,000  dollars  a  year,  payable  in  naval 
stores;  which,  as  the  rate  at  which  they  were  es- 
timated, is  lower  than  the  actual  price,  will  cost 
72,123  dollars  and  31  and  a  half  cent?  ;  making 
for  the  years  1796  — 1799,  a  sum  of  dollars 
288,493.  26. 

The  extraordinary  extortions  arise  from  de- 
mands, with  which  our  agents  think  themselves 
obliged  to  comply,  in  order  to  preserve  peace. 
The  Dey  wished   the  United   States,  once,  to 


[       02       ] 

build  vessels  fit  for  cruising  for  him,  which  he 
was  to  pay  out  of  the  annuity.  A  sum  of 
47, coo  dollars  was  appropriated  in  July  1797 
for  that  purpose,  and  two  or  three  vessels  actu- 
ally built  for  him.  Whether  he  has  consented 
to  a  deduction  from  the  annuity,  on  that  ac- 
count, is  not  known  to  the  writer.  lie  also  in- 
sists that  property,  belonging  to  his  subjects, 
and  freighted  on  an  American  vessel,  shall  be 
paid  by  the  United  States,  whenever  the  vessel 
las  been  captured  by  one  of  the  belligerent 
powers ;  and  at  the  same  time  pretends,  that  he 
has  a  right  to  compel  any  American  vessel  in  his 
ports  to  take  freight  for  him.  On  account  of 
sundry  demands  of  this  kind,  an  appropriation 
was  made  in  the  session  of  1798 — i799»  The 
whole  appropriation,  which  embraced  several 
other  objects  relative  to  the  Mediterranean 
powers,  was  for  200,000  dollars ;  72,000  of 
which  were  expended  in  1799.  What  propor- 
tion was  applied  to  Algiers  does  not  appear  ; 
but  supposing  it  to  have  been  dolls.  33,125.  71  : 
the  account  will  iland  thus : 

Treaty,         -  -         -  1,131,391.  03 

Annuity  for  four  years,      -         288,493.  26 
Extraordinary  extortions,     -       80,115.71 


making  in  all,  dollars      1 .500,000 

It  is  to  be  recollected,  that  part  of  those  cal- 
culations are  grounded  on  efrimates  laid  before 


C    63    ] 

Congress,  and  the  appropriations  made  accord- 
ingly ;  and  not  on   the   account  of  the  Ultimate 
expenditure  of  the  money.     The  items  relative 
to  the  price   of  naval  stores,  to  the  cost  of  the 
frigate  and  other  vessels,  to  the  sale  of  the  last 
parcel  of  fix  per  cent,   amounting  to  240,000 
dollars,  and  to  the  item  of  extraordinary  extor- 
tions, may,  therefore,  be  found   to  amount  to 
somewhat  more  or  less  than  is  here  set  down. 
But  the  difference  cannot  be  great ;  and  as  the 
sum  of  dollars    1,682,422.  -7  has  actually  been 
disbursed  by  the  treasury,  the  only  question  is, 
whether  a  greater  or  less  part  of  that  sum  has 
been    expended    for  the   other    Mediterranean 
powers,  than  182,422  dollars  and  77  cents. 
Having  mentioned  the  loan  of  800, ceo  dk 
obtained  from  the  bank,  in  six  per  cent  stock,  it 
is  proper  to  add  that,   in  the  same  year,  1- 
the  treasury  purchased  from   the  Bank  another 
sum  of  six  percent,  slock,  amounting  to  dollars 
660,373.  33  aiKl  remitted  the  same  to  Holland, 
in  order  that  the  proceeds  might  be  applied 
the  payments  of  interest  and   principal  on   the 
Dutch  debt.     Of  that  sum  160,000  dollars  v 
to  have   been  purchased  in  April,  and  500,000 
dollars  in  September  1795,  anc*  ,00tn  purchases 
at  par.     Six  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dolls, 
of  that  stock  have  produced  in  Holland  532,107 
dollars  and   34   cents.     The  remaining  20,373 
dollars  and  33  cents  have  bfeen  .  I  to  the 


r  64  ] 

treasury,  and  have  been  noticed  in  the  course  oi 
these  observations.  The  loss  on  the  part  sold 
has  been  107,892  dollars  66  tents,  and  on  the 
loan  of  80c, 000  dollars,  wa--.  114,427  dollars 
and  78  cents.  By  thost  transactions  the  Bank 
has  obtained  specie  for  1,460,000  dollars  of  its 
six  per  cent,  stock  at  par,  and  the  United  States 
have  lost  about  220,000  dollars. 

II.  It  has  been  stated,  that  from  the  establish- 
ment of  the  present  government,  until  the  closed 
1795,  the  current  expenditure  had  exceeded  the 
receipts  by  a  sum  exceeding  two  millions  and  a 
half  of  dollars  ;  from  whence  had  resulted  an  in- 
crease of  debt  to  that  amount,  exclusively  of  that 
increases  owirtg  to  the  accumulation  of  interest 
on  the  domestic  debt,  which  was  funded  instead 
of  being  paid,  and  to  the  assumption  of  state 
debts,  in  favour  of  debtor  states,  beyond  their 
proportion.  But  it  appears,  by  statement  No.  5, 
that  during  the  years  1796,  1797  and  1798,  the 
receipts  exceeded  the  expenditure  by  a  sum  of 
3,874,524  dollars  and  74  cents,  which  produced 
a  diminution  of  debt  to  the  same  amour  f.  This 
was  owing  immediately  to  an  augmentation  of 
revenue  and  to  a  diminution  of  expenses.  The 
diminution  of  expenses  was  produced  prim  ' 
ly  by  the  reduction  of  the  military  cst< 
made  by  the  fourth  Congress ;  and  the  inc. 
or  revenue  was  owing  partly  to  additions  to 
impost  and  some  other  taxes  laid   by  the 


L    65    ] 

Congress,  partly  to  the  increase  of  population, 
and  partly  to  the  increase  of  wealth  occa- 
sioned by  the  neutral  situation  of  the  United 
States.  The  far  greater  part  of  the  revenue 
;  drawn  from  duties  on  consumption,  any 
increase  in  the  number  or  wealth  of  the  con- 
sumers produces  an  increase  of  revenue,  inde- 
pendent of  new  taxes.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
real  increase  of  debt  during-  1799  was  4,783,81 1 
dollars  and  3  cents.  One  year  of  hostility  ad- 
ded one  million  more  to  the  public  debt,  than 
had  been  paid  oil'  in  three  prosperous  years  of 
neutrality.  Not  only  a  debt  was  created,  but 
that  reduction  of  the  public  debt,  which  other- 
wise would  have  been  effected,  did  not  take 
place. 

The  revenue  of  1796  and  1797,  exclusively 
of  loans  and  sale  of  bank  stock,  exceeded  the 
same  revenue  for  1798  and  1799  by  only  200, 
coo  dollars  :  and  the  payments  for  interest  en 
the  debt  in  1796  and  1797  exceeded  those  in 
1798  — 1799*  by  near  300,000  dollars.  Had 
therefore,  no  change  of  circumstances  taken 
place,  had  no  additional  expenses  occurred,  a 
reduction  of  debt  would  have  been  effected  in 
1798  and  1799,  at  least  equal  to  what  was  ef- 
fected in  1796  and  1797.  The  net  amount  of 
debt  discharged,  during  these  two  years,  was 
dollars  3,046,028. 6c.  The  net  amount  of 
debt  hn'urrtd  during  1798  and  1799  is  dollars 
I 


[     66     ] 

h955>3l4'  89*  ri"he  difference  resulting  from 
the  additional  expenses,  incurred  during  1798 
and  1799,  appears,  in  this  view  of  the  subject, 
to  amount  to  seven  millions  of  dollars.  A  more 
precise  result  may  be  deduced  from  a  conside- 
ration of  the  expenses  themselves. 

The  whole  amount  expended  for  the  military 
establishment,  navy  included,  during  the  years 
1796  and  1797  was  (Statement  No.  3.,)  dollars 
3,026,042.  79.  The  whole  amount  expended 
for  the  same  objects,  during  the  years  1798  and 
1799  (deducting  dollars  80,007.  66,  expended 
on  account  of  the  insurrection  in  1799)  is  dolls. 
9,566,669. 85.  The  difference  is  dollars 
6.530,626.  79.  And  as  the  revenue  for  these 
two  last  years  was  less  than  in  1796  and  1797, 
no  part  of  that  expense  has  been  defrayed  by  an 
additional  revenue  ;  but  the  whole  has  been  paid, 
either  by  a  revenue  which  otherwise  would  have 
been  employed  in  the  reduction  of  the  public 
debt,  or  by  creating  a  new  debt.  The  public 
debt  was,  on  the  1st  January  1800,  almost  five 
millions  of  dollars  larger  than  it  actually  was  in 
the  middle  of  1798,  and  precisely  six  millions 
and  a  half  larger  than  it  would  have  been,  had 
not  those  additional  expenses  been  incurred. 
In  order  to  have  a  complete  view  of  the  direct 
loss  caused  by  the  additional  expenses,  it  is  ne* 
celfary  to  examine  what  will  be  the  result  of  the 
year  1800. 


[     67    ] 

The  army  establishment  for  the  year  1797, 
cost,  dollars  1,062,299.04.  The  additional 
expenses  authorized  in  1798,  in  relation  to  that 
object,  consisted,  exclusively  of  the  purchases  of 
arms  and  ammunition,  of  about  3,000,000  dol- 
lars, one  million  applicable  to  a  permanent  in- 
crease of  the  standing  army,  and  two  millions 
necessary  for  the  support  of  the  additional,  or 
temporary  army,  which  has  lately  been  disband- 
ed. Had  the  increase  taken  place  the  moment 
it  was  voted,  it  would  have  produced  an  addi- 
tional expense  of  four  millions  and  a  half  for  the 
six  last  months  of  1798  and  the  year  1799.  As 
the  recruiting  service  did  not  immediately  com- 
mence, and  proceeded  gradually,  the  whole  ad- 
ditional expense,  including  purchases  of  arms 
and  military  stores,  was,  for  those  18  months 
only,  dollars  3,415,748.60,  and  has  already 
been  taken  into  consideration.  The  estimate 
for  1800,  was  originally  made  en  a  supposition 
that  the  whole  establishment  would  be  filled  and 
continued,  and  for  the  army,  exclusively  of 
arms  and  ammunition,  exceeded  four  millions 
of  dollars.  The  suspension  of  the  enlistments 
in  January  1800,  made  a  saving  of  one  million  ; 
and  the  disbanding  of  the  additional  army  will 
save  after  1800  another  million;  but  as  the 
troops  were  disbanded  only  in  June,  and  al-'owed 
three  months  extra-pay,  there  will  be  no  more 
than  300,000  dollars  saved  on  that  head  this 


[     63     ] 

year.  The  expenses  for  the  military  establish- 
ment, including  the  navy,  are,  therefore,  calcu- 
lated as  followeth  : 


Army  -  -  -  -         2,700,000 

Navy— pay,  provisions,  contingencies  -         2,500,000 

Towards  building  six  74^  -  700,000 


3,200,000 


Purchase  of  arms,  ammunition,  and  military  stores  esti- 
mated by  treasury  at  1,000,000;  supposed  to  be  expend- 
ed in  relation  to  this  object  -  600,000 


Probable  expenses  of  1800  -  6,500,000 

The  average  expense  of  1796 — 1797,  was  -  -  1,500.000 


The  additional  expenses  for  1800  will  be 


Which  five  millions  added  to  the  six  millions 
and  a  half,  extraordinary  expense  for  the  latter 
part  of  1798,  and  for  the  year  1799,  make  an 
aggregate  of  eleven  millions  of  dollars  and  a  half 
for  the  extraordinary  expenses  of  the  military 
and  naval  establishment  from  June  1798,  to  the 
close  of  1800. 


C     69     ] 

The  following  Estimate  of  the  Receipts  and  Expen- 
ditures of  the  Tear  1800  will  show  the  Pro- 
bable  Increase  of  Debt  for  that  Tear, 

EXPENDITURES. 

Interest  on  the  public  d.  bt               -  3,5^0,000 

Civil  fitt  and  miscellaneous               -  -                  1,200,000 

Expenses  or'  intercourse  with  foreign  nation!  -                      400,000 

Military  and  Naval  establishment,  per  above  -                  6,500,000 

Current  expendi'uie  11,600,000 

Payments  of  principal  of  the  debt,  including  reimbursement 

of  iix  per  cent,  stuck.  -  1,200,000 


■      .  Total        12,800,000 

RECEIPTS. 
Impost,  incluJing  increase  arising  from  additions  made  this  ye;  r    7,zoo,ooo 
Internal  revcrae  -  -  800,000 

Probable  receipts  of  land  tax,  as  estimated  by  the  Secretary     -      i  ,200,000 
DiviJends  on  Bank,  stock,  duties  on  postage  -  -  100,000 


Revenue  -  -  9,300,000 

There  were,  on  tst  Jan.  1800  more  than   2  millions  of  dollars 

in  treasury,  of  which,  applicable  to  the  current  ex? 

tares  as  estimated  by  the  Secretary  -  -  I,ooo,ot:o 

Probable  amount  of  the  new  loan  -  -  2,500,000 

1   ly?  OO,  OOO 


Deducting  the  1,200,000  dollars  to  be  ap- 
plied to  the  redudion  of  the  debt,  from  the 
loan  of  two  millions  and  a  half,  will  leave  for 
the  increase  of  debt  1,300,000  dollars. 

It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  extra  expense 
of  eleven  millions  and  a  half  has  been,  or  will  be 
ultimately  paid  by 

l.  The  increase  of  debt  in  1799  -  4,780,000 

in  1800  -  1,320,000 


2.  The  additional  probable  revenue  of  1800 

Land  tax  -  1,200,00* 

Additions  to  the  impost  -  -  300,000 


6,:oj,co» 


I, 500,00* 


%.  That  part  of  the  ordinary  revenue  of  1 798,  1799  and 
1800,  which,  otherwise,  would  have  been  applied  to  the 
reduction  of  the  debt— about  -  4,000,000 

1 1 ,600,000 


[     70     ] 

Had  no  extraordinary  expense  been  incurred, 
and  the  additional  taxes,  (land  tax  and  additio- 
nal impost)  been  still  raised,  the  public  debt 
would  have  been,  on  the  ist  January  i8co, 
eleven  millions  and  a  half  of  dollars  less  than  it 
will  be.  But  if,  which  doubtless  would  have 
been  the  case,  the  additional  taxes  had  not  been 
laid,  the  public  debt  would  have  been  on  that 
day,  ten  millions  of  dollars  less  than  it  will  be. 
The  difference  to  the  people  of  the  United  States 
13  ten  millions  of  debt,  and  one  million  and  a 
half  additional  taxes.  It  is  even  probable  that 
the  real  loss  caused  by  the  measures  adopted  in 
relation  to  France,  amounts  to  more  than  eleven 
millions  of  dollars  and  a  half. 

The  average  of  the  receipts  from  impost  and 
internal  duties,  from  the  ist  January  1796  to  ist 
January  1798,  was  in  round  numbers  7,580,000 
dollars  a  year,  and  for  the  years  1798  and  1799 
was  7,570,000  dollars.  Yet  the  following  taxes 
operated  either  exclusively,  or  almost  altogether 
in  favour  of  the  revenue  of  the  two  last  years. 

1.  Duty  of  half  a  cent  per  pound  on  brown 
sugar,  estimated  at  200,000  dollars,  and  of  two 
and  a  half  per  cent,  on  sundry  goods,  estimated 
at  200,000  dollars  making  all  together  400,000 
dollars,  were  laid  in  1797,  and  operated  neither 
on  1796,  nor  on  the  first  months  in  1797. 

2.  A  duty  of  8  cents  per  bu  hel  on  salt,  esti- 
mated at  2co,cco  dollars,  was  laid  in  1797,  and 


[     7i     J 

operated  neither  in  1796,  nor  in  the  first  nine 
of  1 797. 

3.  The  stamp  duties  estimated  at  200,000 
dollars,  operated  only  from  1st  July  1798. 

Had  there  been  no  diminution  of  revenue 
arising  from  other  causes,  the  average  amount 
of  receipts  for  1798  and  1799,  should  have  ex- 
ceeded that  of  1796  and  1797,  by  the  following 
sums. 

1.  The  proceeds  of  duties  on  sugar  and  other 
articles  should  have  been  for  1798  and  1799 
dollars  800,000,  and  for  1797,  dollars  200,000, 
the  difference  is  dollars  600,000. 

2.  The  additional  salt  duty  for  1 798  and  1799, 
dollars  400,000,  for  1797  only  dollars  50,000 — 
difference,  dollars  350,000. 

3.  The  stamp  duties  for  one  year  and  a  half, 
dollars  300,000. 

Those  three  items  amount  all  together  to 
1,250,000  dollars  for  the  years  1797  and  1798, 
or  625,000  a  year.  The  average  revenue  of 
these  two  last  years,  should  have  exceeded  that 
of  the  two  preceding  years,  by  625,000  dollars, 
but  the  contrary  fell  short  of  it.  The  revenues 
existing  in  1797  experienced,  therefore,  a  dimi- 
nution of  625,000  dollars  a  year  in  1798  and 
1799  ;  and  that  diminution  fell  principally  on 
the  year  1799. 

Several  causes  have  probably  combined  in 
causing  that  diminution.     So  far  as  the  suspen- 


C    72    J 

sion  of  the  commercial  intercourse  with  France, 
may  have  diminished  the  profits  of  commerce, 
or  the  price  of  any  of  our  exports,  the  income 
of  the   consumers  has   been  diminished,  and  so 
far  the  consumption  of  articles  paying  a  revenue 
has  decreased.     It  is  not  the  object  of  this  en- 
quiry to  attempt  to  ascertain  how  far  that  cause 
may  have  diminished  the  revenue.     Still  less  is 
it  intended  to  investigate  the  necessity,   or  ad- 
vantages of  the  measures  which  have  authorized 
the  extraordinary  expense  of  those  three  years. 
It  is  sufficient  to  have   shown  that,  independent 
of  any  indirect  loss  in   the  revenue,  the  actual 
cost,  from   the   accounts*  already  produced,  ex- 
ceeded six  millions  and  a  half  of  dollars,  for  the 
first  eighteen  months    of  hostilities,  and  will, 
from  the  estimates,  which  have  been  made  by 
the  departments,    amount  to  eleven  and  a  half 
millions  at  the  close  of  this  year. 


No.  i. 

Statement  of  the  Public  Debt  on  ist  Jan*  1790. 
and  ist  Jan.  1800. 


On  ist  January  1790. 
Foreign  debt, 

French  debt,  including  arrear.  of  In- 
terest        -              -               -          7,895,300.  39 
Spanirh  debt,          do.                   do.           241,580.  95 
Dutch  debt,           do.                   do,      3,600,000. 

Dolli.       Cti. 
11,736,981.34 

197,810.  al 

Foreign  Officers , 

Principal 

Arrearages  of  interest 

186,988.  23 
10,822.  05 

Domestic  Debt, 

Principal  ac  funded  oii^iiully 
Deduct   payment 
to  Pennsylvania 

-       27,768,297.85 
sold 

90,674.  16 

-3-  69 

Value  off  apcr  rr.on.- 

fur  1  -  480,823.  83 

Unsubscribed  registered  A  -  86,561.  34 


aS, 245,008.  86 
Interest  to  ist  January  1790,  (deduct- 
ing  dollars  22,438.  58,  intereston 
debt  due  to  foreign  officers)     -     11,213,737.41 
Deduct  received  in  payment  of 
lands  sold  to  Pennsylvania        -       60,718.  25 


11,153,019.  16 

39,398,013.  02 

Assumed  debt9 

Principal  of  srate  certificates  assumed  15,082,771.  33 
Interest  prior  to  ist  Jan.  1790       -       1,379,110.  85 

16,461,882.  18 
Deduct  assumption  for  debtor  states 
beyond  their  proportion,  vf*. 
2,069,565.  71  including  interest 
to  1st  Jan.  1792,  and  without 
the  interest  after  ist  Jan.  1  -92, 
estimated  -  -  -  2,000,000. 


14,461,88a.  iS 
Balances  funded  in  favor  of  creditor  states     3,517,584. 


*7>979>466".  18 
Uufunded  debts  discharged  ia  specie         -  428,080.45' 

Public  debt  on  Jan.  I,  1790        -         69,740,366.  27 

K 


No.   i   Continued. 


On  the  i  st  January  1800. 


foreign  debt  -  10,760,000 

Old  six  ptr    cent,  norr.inal    deducing 

amount  transferred  to  sinking  fund  -        28,225,669.  63 
Deduct  the  reimbursements     -      3,215,575.  37 


2^,010,094.  26 
Deferred  stock,  dedu&ing  amount  trans- 
ferred to  sinking  fund         -  -  13,682,944.  17 
Three  per  cent.          do.                    do.       •       19,086,708.  54 
Five  and  a  half  per  cent.   do.          do.        -       1,847,500. 
Four  and  a  half  per,  cent.         -  176,000. 

-— —  59,803,246.  97 

Outstanding  debt  due  to  foreign  officers,  and  registered  debt         100, 184.  1 S 
Six  pet  cent,  stock  of  1796         -         -  -       8j,ooo. 

Eight  per  ceat.  -----     5,000,000. 

Six  per  cent,  navy  stock         -  923,200. 

■  "      ■  6,009,200 

Temporary  loans  obtained  from  the  Bank         -  «■  3,640,000 


Public  debt  on  the  1st  Jan.  1800  -  80,312,631.15 

Deduct    Bank  shares  owned    by  the    United   States  at 

25percenr.advar.ee         -----  1,110,000 


79,202,631.  15 
Public  debt  o«  1st  Jan,  1790         -         -         69,740,366.47 

Increase  of  debt  from  I  790  to  1800.  -         9,462,264.  88 


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i      "28Apr52KF 
i5Apr5  2U 

FEB  7      1955 

©CIS 

pr'57PW 

RECD  lDm 

N0V2O'63"12M 

4f  » 
"■1981  ■ 

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